The Serbian Novak Djokovic dominated (7-5, 6-3) the Argentinian Diego Schwartzman, striker of Rafael Nadal earlier in the tournament, in the final of the Masters 1000 in Rome.
It was with a record and a new title in the Roman city that Novak Djokovic ended a not so quiet week for the world No. 1. The Serbian still found the resources to win the Masters 1000 in Rome for the fifth time on Monday, logically dominating the Argentinian Diego Schwartzman (7-5, 6-3), after a disputed final.
Two weeks after his disqualification at the US Open for a gesture of humor, his only defeat in 2020, the Serbian won a 36th Masters 1000 title, a record, now exceeding Rafael Nadal (35). And this less than a month after having already conquered that of Cincinnati, relocated to New York.
If he is also a regular at the finals (he was playing his tenth on Monday) and titles on Roman clay, he had not been crowned since 2015, remaining on three lost finals (2016, 2017 and 2019).
Despite Nadal’s absence this year against him in the final, Djokovic was nevertheless wary of Schwartzman (15th player in the world), the Spaniard’s striker in the quarter-finals, and against whom he had fought last year in the semi-final in the Foro Italico.
Struggling with his tennis, mentally impressive
Fears confirmed early in the match: in a fine rain, Djokovic was annoyed, imprecise and looking for his first balls. The Argentinian, 15th in the world, took the opportunity to steal his first two service games and quickly lead 3-0, with clenched fists and “vamos” of rigor which would not have displeased Nadal.
Djokovic, however, recovered quickly enough and tried to make the little Argentinian (1.70 m) run more, remained on the court for more than three hours on Saturday in the semi-final against the Canadian Denis Shapovalov. And the world No. 1 stuck together for a breathtaking end of the first round where his experience made the difference (7-5).
But it was clearly not the great Djokovic, like several poorly controlled cushioning, which allowed the Argentine, still so combative despite fatigue, to continue to believe in the second set.
But as always, arrived at the decisive moments, “Djoko” tightened the game and made a decisive break at 4-3 to conclude in stride quite logically. “It’s been a good week, even though I haven’t played my best tennis. I’m satisfied,” he blurted out, before joining Roland-Garros, which begins in less than a week.
