Djokovic back in top form with Italian Open title
Swiatek defends crown with 28th straight win
ROME, May 15, (AP): Just in time. Novak Djokovic raised his first trophy of the year at the Italian Open on Sunday and showed that he’s back in top form exactly a week before the French Open starts.
After missing a large portion of the season because he wasn’t vaccinated against the coronavirus, the top-ranked Djokovic beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-0, 7-6 (5) for his sixth Rome title.
“I’ve been building my form the last few weeks,” Djokovic said. “It couldn’t be a better timing coming into Roland Garros.”
Djokovic didn’t drop a set all week, having won his 1,000th career match over Casper Ruud in the semifinals.
It was his 12th final at the Foro Italico.
Djokovic needed only a half hour to win the opening set, during which Tsitsipas got so frustrated at one point that he banged his racket against his bag during a changeover and mangled the frame. After falling behind early in the second set, Djokovic stepped up his game when Tsitsipas served for
the set at 5-3.
First, Djokovic ripped a forehand cross-court return winner that landed on the line, then on the next point he pushed Tsitsipas from corner to corner before the fifth-ranked Greek player resorted to a drop shot attempt that landed in the net. Djokovic celebrated
with a series of fist pumps as the crowd chanted his nickname: “NO-LE, NOLE.”
Earlier, Iga Swiatek is going into the French Open on quite a run.
The top-ranked Swiatek overwhelmed Ons Jabeur 6-2, 6-2 to defend her Italian Open title on Sunday
and extend her winning streak to 28 matches.
Swiatek was a surprise champion at the French Open in 2020 when she was ranked No. 54. Now the 20-yearold Polish player is the favorite to add a second title at Roland Garros when the year’s second Grand Slam starts next Sunday.
“I already know that I did some great stuff this season, so I feel like I can just play freely,” Swiatek said. “For sure the expectations around are higher, but I never had a problem to cut it off and not to think about it. Also I’m gaining experience at that.”
Swiatek has won five straight titles during her run. “All these tournaments that I’ve won seem pretty surreal right now,” she said.
Jabeur was on a streak of her own with 11 consecutive wins entering the final after her Madrid Open title last week but the Tunisian’s crafty game of drop shots and spins proved no match for Swiatek’s swift movement and accurate groundstrokes.