Italian Open: Djokovic beats Tsitsipas for record-extending 38th Masters 1000 title

TIL Desk Sports/ World No 1 Novak Djokovic capped a historic week on Sunday at the Italian Open, where he overcame Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-0, 7-6(5) to capture a record-extending 38th ATP Masters 1000 crown.

The Serbian became the fifth man in the Open Era to earn 1,000 match wins when he defeated Casper Ruud in the semi-finals and he backed that up with a hard-fought display against Tsitsipas to win his first title of the season after one hour and 37 minutes.

In front of a packed crowd on centre court, Djokovic outmanoeuvred the Greek in the first set, before he showcased his winning mentality in the second set, rallying from 2-5 to become the oldest Rome champion at 34 years, 11 months and 23 days.

“I pleasantly surprised myself, I can say. I had a clear game plan and I knew what to expect, so I knew what I had to do, but I did play a perfect first set,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview.