Rome (AFP)

Novak Djokovic qualified for his tenth final at the Masters 1000 in Rome, where he has already been crowned four times, by dominating Sunday in the semi-final the Norwegian Casper Ruud (7-5, 6-3).

The world No. 1 is aiming at Rome for a 36th Masters 1000 title which would allow him to overtake Rafael Nadal (both currently have 35).

He will find in the final the Canadian Denis Shapovalov (seeded N.12) or the Argentinian Diego Schwartzman (N.8), scorer of Nadal in the quarterfinals.

"Even after 15 years on the circuit, I continue to have fun and I'm still hungry for titles," assured Djokovic after his qualification, even if he "takes nothing for sure" for the final.

If he already has nine finals and four titles in Rome, the Serbian has not been crowned at Foro Italico since 2015, remaining on three lost finals (2016, 2017 and 2019).

One week before the Roland Garros kick-off, he was seriously jostled in the first round by the 34th player in the world, but was able to tighten the game in the key moments of an intense match, to the delight of the public, again authorized since Sunday (but below the threshold of 1,000 people).

- No broken racket -

These spectators, "I missed them a lot and all the players missed them", "Djoko" observed.

"I hope we will see more in the next tournaments too, it was great news when we found out that we would be playing in front of an audience. It is also a good sign, compared to the overall situation of the Covid, we hope things improve, "Djoko" added.

Besides the many "Dai Nole!"

(Come on Christmas!) Launched by this very family audience, the world No. 1 was able to rely above all on his experience and efficient service to stay afloat in the face of the enthusiasm of his opponent, the first Norwegian to play in a semi-final of Masters 1000.

At 4-5 in the first set, Djokovic had to erase two set points for his opponent.

Then at 5-5, on his service, he still had to cancel three break points for the Norwegian and take no less than five aces to get out of it and conclude the round in 1h10.

"At first it was difficult to position yourself well, it was windy, but I'm happy with how I got out," said "Nole".

The more controlled second set confirms the idea of ​​a rise in power for the Serbian, who has undoubtedly delivered his most solid match since his arrival on Roman clay, at the end of the American tour on hard.

And this time without breaking a racket or getting annoyed, as he had done in the quarterfinals.

© 2020 AFP