Novak Djokovic is grateful that he was the fifth player ever to celebrate his 1,000th victory on the ATP Tour Saturday night. The Serbian reached a milestone by dealing with Norway’s Casper Ruud in the semi-finals of the Masters Tournament in Rome.
“It’s been a long time since I played my first match and a long time since I won my first,” said Djokovic, 34, after his victory over Ruud. “Hopefully I can continue like this and many more victories follow.” (6-4 and 6-3).
In the Open Era, only Jimmy Connors, Evan Lendl, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal managed to reach 1,000 wins. Federer broke the streak in January 2015, and Nadal followed the Swiss’s lead in November 2020.
Djokovic, who like Federer has won fewer Grand Slams, said: “When I saw Roger and Rafael reach this milestone in recent years, I was looking forward to achieving those thousand victories myself. I feel proud and privileged to achieve so many victories.” The title from Nadal (20 on 21).
Novak Djokovic achieved a thousand victories in the tournament due to his victory over Casper Ruud.
Novak Djokovic achieved a thousand victories in the tournament due to his victory over Casper Ruud.
picture: Getty Images
Tsitsipás has become one of the best clay court players
In Rome, Djokovic showed that he is back at his peak after a difficult start to the season. ‘The Djoker’, who missed the Australian Open and major hard court tournaments in the US because he was not vaccinated against COVID-19, is playing his fifth tournament only this year in the Italian capital.
In the final, Djokovic is waiting for a duel with Stefanos Tsitsipas. The last time the Serbian and the Greek met was a year ago in the final of Roland Garros. Djokovic was then two sets behind, but pulled the longest on the Paris pebbles.
“We will meet again in one of the biggest tournaments in the world. Stefanos is clearly in good shape. He has become one of the best clay court players in recent years, among other things, by winning the championship in Monte Carlo and in the major clay tournaments,” said Djokovic.
Djokovic is in the final in Rome for the fourth year in a row. The world number one won the tournament in 2020 and lost the final to Nadal in 2019 and 2021. He has a total of five titles in Rome to his name.
