BEVERLY HILLS, May 14, (THEWILL) – The highest ranked tennis player in the world, Novak Djokovic, was made to sweat by world number five, Stefanos Tsitsipas, at the quarter-finals of the Italian Open in Rome before Djokovic triumphed 4-6 7-5 7-5 on Saturday.
In a match that lasted over two days, their epic three-setter had to be restarted on Saturday after being halted on Friday evening due to rain, with Tsitsipas on the ascendancy. Uncharacteristically, Djokovic found himself struggling with his form as he made many more errors than was expected of the disciplined player.
A more controlled Tsitsipas took the first set 6-4. His push for a winner in the next set was sidetracked when the Serbian broke his serve in the third game before rain interrupted play. Djokovic was beginning to establish himself when the game was stopped.
Upon resumption on Saturday, Djokovic appeared to have shaken off the erring play and given himself the chance to up his game and draw level with the Greek player at 4-4. He then controlled play to force Tsitsipas to break point.
The fifth seed rallied to rescue his service game, but the Greek’s spirited attempt did not withstand Djokovic’s resilience because the Serb forced through his advantage to take it while stubbornly holding off Tsitsipas’s attempt to immediately break back.
He therefore secured a tight second set 7-5 to put the match into the decider for a win. Although Tsitsipas appeared to have returned to a steady rhythm when he moved into an early 3-1 lead, Djokovic dug deep to mount a fight back to another 4-4 balance.
The world number one found the extra burners to break Tsitsipas’s serve again and give himself the chance to serve to victory. But, he found the Greek player equal to the task. Tsitsipas broke his serve back to rescue the match.
However, the Serb had the last laugh when he claimed the seventh game of the third set to bring the completely exhausting but thrilling contest to an end in his favour.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
