"I've seen Roger and Rafa celebrate those milestones, I was looking forward to get to that myself" - Novak Djokovic after clinching his 1000th tour win
Novak Djokovic scored his 1000th career win on Saturday, beating Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-3 in the semifinals of the Rome Masters. In doing so, he became only the fifth man in the Open Era to reach 1000 victories on the ATP tour, after Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer, Ivan Lendl, and Rafael Nadal.
Connors currently leads the field with 1,274 wins under his belt and is closely followed by Federer, who has amassed 1,251 wins. Ivan Lendl is third with 1,068 wins, while Rafael Nadal occupies the fourth spot with 1,052 victories.
When quizzed about his monumental feat during his post-match press conference, the World No. 1 highlighted how watching Federer and Nadal achieve similar numbers spurred him to do the same.
"Yeah, thanks to the tournament and the crowd for celebrating the milestone with me," Novak Djokovic said. "Obviously I've seen Roger and Rafa celebrate those milestones in the last couple years. I was looking forward to get to that thousand myself. I'm really, really blessed to have that many victories on the tour. It's been a long time, ever since I played my first match, ever since I won my first match on the tour. Hopefully I can keep going."
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1000 ATP MATCH WINS FOR @DjokerNole! https://t.co/owgTBVjHtm
The 34-year-old was also asked to share a few thoughts on the match. Djokovic pointed out that he started out strong, but slowed down as the Norwegian grew into the match.
"I thought I played very well. I started fantastic, I mean, 4-Love. Then I did slow down a bit. I did drop my level," the Serb added. "I wasn't feeling that great on the court I think for about 15 minutes. He used that to get himself back in the first set. It was important to close it out in the 10th game to clinch the first set. Second set, close couple of games at the beginning. But I always felt like I was in his service games, always had chances."
"I'm glad that I have some part of your history" ☺️
@CasperRuud98 🤝 @DjokerNole
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The Serb reckons he finished the match strongly and expressed his desire to repeat his performance in Sunday's final against Stefanos Tsitsipas.
"Yeah, I thought I played really, really well in the last four games of the match," he said. "Hopefully I can take that level into tomorrow."
"Yeah, I can expect a big battle, but I'm ready for it" - Novak Djokovic on facing Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final of the Italian Open
Novak Djokovic was also asked for his two cents on facing Stefanos Tsitsipas, almost a year after coming from two sets down to beat the Greek in the Roland Garros final.
The Serb acknowledged Tsitsipas' stellar form before saying he counts the latter amongst the "top two, three" claycourters on tour.
"It was the finals of Roland Garros. Again, another finals against him in one of the biggest tournaments we have in the world," said the Serb. "He's definitely in form. Last few years he's been top two, three players in general, but top two, three on clay court, reaching the finals in the biggest events on clay."