Djovokic looks to be in top form ahead of Paris
Swiatek takes women’s title in Rome, extends win streak to 28 matches
ROME — That loss to Carlos Alcaraz seems to have motivated Novak Djokovic to step up his game. Just in time, too.
A week after his defeat to the 19-year-old Alcaraz in Madrid, Djokovic won the Italian Open without dropping a set on Sunday for his first title of the year.
Having missed 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.
Now, both Djokovic and Alcaraz need to be considered as top favorites for the French Open, which starts next Sunday.
“I go there with the highest ambitions,” Djokovic said. “I really like my chances. … The way I’ve been feeling on the court and off the court in the last few weeks, I really think I can go far.”
The status of Rafael Nadal, who has won 13 of his record 21 Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros, remains uncertain after the Spaniard’s Italian Open ended earlier than expected when his chronically injured left foot began bothering him again.
“Right now, Carlos Alcaraz or Novak Djokovic,” Tsitsipas said when asked to pick the French Open favorite — without even mentioning Nadal’s name.
As for the women, the overwhelming favorite is Iga Swiatek, the top-ranked player from Poland who defended the women’s title in Rome by overwhelming Ons Jabeur 6-2, 6-2 to extend her winning streak to 28 matches.
The last player to win more consecutive matches was Justine Henin, who won 32 straight over 2007 and 2008. The all-time longest streak belongs to Martina Navratilova, who had a run of 74 in 1984.
Swiatek was a surprise champion at the French Open in 2020 when she was ranked No. 54. Now the 20-year-old Polish player goes to Paris on a completely new level.
“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.
Djokovic lost a deciding-set tiebreaker to Alcaraz in the Madrid Open semifinals last weekend.
“That was a close, close match,” Djokovic said. “He deserved to win, but it was really one point that decided the winner.”
WIMBLEDON BAN: Watching the recent news from Ukraine is “very upsetting,” No. 2-ranked tennis player Daniil Medvedev said Sunday of the war that led Wimbledon organizers to ban him and other Russians from their tournament.
The U.S. Open champion spoke at the Geneva Open where he returns to action after a five-week absence from the ATP Tour for surgery on a hernia injury.
“I had some time to follow what is happening, yeah, it’s very upsetting,” Medvedev said when asked if he could monitor the conflict in Ukraine more closely while not playing. He previously said in February after Russia invaded Ukraine that he was “all for peace.”
Though most Olympic sports banned Russian teams and athletes from international competitions, tennis allowed players to continue as individuals and not representatives of their country.
Wimbledon organizers went further, announcing three weeks ago with support from the U.K. government a decision to impose a ban and “limit Russia’s global influence through the strongest means possible.”
They said that could change “if circumstances change materially” in the war before the tournament begins June 27.
Djokovic has previously called the Wimbledon ban “crazy” and on Sunday was asked after winning the Italian Open title if players should boycott the grass-court Grand Slam event.
“Boycotting is too aggressive,” Djokovic said. “There are a couple of solutions that are better than that and we can aim for those. But after talking to players who are involved in the discussions with Wimbledon it seems like there’s not much wiggle room.”
Medvedev appeared relaxed and smiling often in his 16-minute news conference, speaking in English and French, and explained his outlook about support he got from other players.
“Me, personally in life, I try to respect every opinion because every human life is different,” he said. “You show a tennis ball to 100 people I’m sure some of them are going to say it’s green, and not yellow. … I think it’s yellow. If somebody tells me it’s green I’m not going to, you know, get in conflict with this person.”