Swiatek and Djokovic capture Italian titles
ROME (Reuters) – Women’s world No. 1 and top-seeded Iga Swiatek continued her winning ways on Sunday, defeating No. 9 seed Ons Jabeur 6-2, 6-2 in the final of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.
The 20-year-old from Poland captured her fifth straight WTA Tour final in winning her 28th consecutive match overall. Swiatek joined Serena Williams in becoming the second player to win four or more WTA 1000 titles in a single season after dispatching the Tunisian in one hour, 22 minutes.
“Proud of myself. At the beginning of the tournament, I didn’t know it would be possible to keep up the streak and with all the wins,” Swiatek said. “I’m pretty happy I did it really step by step and I just focused on the right things because I think it led to all the success this week.
“Yeah, for sure it was a long path for me since the beginning, but I’m really proud of myself and my team.”
Swiatek was overcome by emotion after Jabeur’s final backhand sailed into the net. She tossed her racquet aside, fell to her knees and placed her face in her hands.
Swiatek now will set her sights on the French Open, where she’ll attempt to capture her second Grand Slam title. She won in Paris in 2020.
Swiatek snapped a personal two-match skid against Jabeur despite registering just one ace on Sunday. She won 22 of 32 first-serve points, however, and converted five of nine break points.
Jabeur saw her 11-match winning streak come to a halt on Sunday. She was bidding for her second straight WTA 1000 title after her win last week in Madrid.
“I mean, I did everything that I can,” Jabeur said. “I made her visit all the corners of the court. I know that Iga plays much better when you open the court, so maybe I should have stayed more in the middle and let her lose the point. I don’t know. Definitely I did my best. The thing is, I bring many more shots in that point. She deserved to win, for sure.”
On the men’s side, top seed Novak Djokovic continued to rewrite the history books on Sunday, defeating fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-0, 7-6(5) at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome for his 38th ATP Masters 1000 crown to extend his record.
Djokovic, who turns 35 next Sunday, defeated Casper Ruud in the semifinals for his 1,000 career match win. He became just the fifth man in the Open Era to reach that mark.
In the second set, Djokovic rebounded from a 5-2 deficit to become the oldest champion in Rome 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,” the Serbian said in his on-court interview. “After that it was a little tighter. At this level, one or two points can turn a match and he was then back in the game at 4-1 up.
“The match could easily have gone to a third set but I managed to find the right shots at the right time to come back into the match. The tie-break I was maybe an inch better, but it was a tight, tight tie-break for both of us.”
Djokovic now has won on the clay courts at Rome six times, the first in 2008.
The French Open begins in Paris next Sunday. Djokovic, a 20-time Grand Slam winner, is the defending champion.