Novak Djokovic won the Masters 1000 in Rome for the fifth time on Monday, logically dominating Argentina's Diego Schwartzman (7-5, 6-3) in the final, one week before the start of Roland Garros.
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.
Fears confirmed at the start of the match: in a fine rain, Djokovic was annoyed, imprecise and was 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” 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 number 1 got back 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, the Serbian tightened the game and made a decisive break at 4-3 to conclude in stride quite logically.
“It's been a good week, although I haven't played my best tennis.
I'm satisfied, ”he said hot, before joining Roland Garros, which begins in less than a week.
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Djokovic crowned in Rome for the fifth time
