Djokovic bags 1,000th career win to reach Italian Open final

ROME: World No 1 Novak Djokovic earned his 1,000th tour-level victory by beating Casper Ruud 6-4 6-3 on Saturday to reach the Italian Open final.

Djokovic played Stefanos Tsitsipas in the title clash late yesterday.

The 34-year-old is only the fifth man in the Open Era to reach the 1,000 wins milestone after Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer, Ivan Lendl and Rafa Nadal.

“I’ve seen Roger and Rafa celebrate those milestones in the last couple years. I was looking forward to get to that thousand myself,” Djokovic said.

“It’s been a long time, ever since I played my first match, ever since I won my first match on the tour. Hopefully, I can keep going.”

Playing under the lights, Djokovic broke Norwegian Ruud’s service twice to earn a commanding 4-0 lead as the top seed made a fast start.

Ruud broke Djokovic at 5-3 down and held his serve but the 20-times major winner closed out the set.

In the second set, Ruud saved three break points in the seventh game before Djokovic broke for a 4-3 lead.

Djokovic broke Ruud again as he wrapped up victory in one hour 42 minutes.

Earlier, world No 5 Tsitsipas reached the Rome final for the first time after the Greek rallied to defeat Alexander Zverev 4-6 6-3 6-3.

Ons Jabeur played Iga Swiatek in the late women's final after winning a thrilling clash with Daria Kasatkina 6-4, 1-6, 7-5.

World No 1 Iga swept aside third-seeded Aryna Sabalenka 62 6-1 in the semi-finals. Reuters

Novak Djokovic holds a cake marking his record of 1,000 match wins on the ATP Tour, after winning his semi-final match against Casper Ruud at the Rome Open on Sunday.