Novak Djokovic's wife Jelena congratulates him on his 1000th match win
Novak Djokovic became the fifth man in ATP history to reach 1000 match wins on Saturday, defeating Casper Ruud in the semifinals of the Italian Open. With the 6-4, 6-3 victory, the World No. 1 joined the likes of Jimmy Connors (1,274 wins), Roger Federer (1,251 wins), Ivan Lendl (1,068 wins) and Rafael Nadal (1,051 wins).
Among the many messages of congratulations that poured in for the Serb from fans and fellow professionals on social media, one particular message stood out from the rest -- from his wife Jelena Djokovic.
1000 ATP match wins for Novak Djokovic!
Astonishing number and it will be fascinating to see how many of Connors, Federer, Lendl & Nadal that he can hunt down.
Rome is such a happy place for him and he's rounding into top form just in time.
Final vs Tstisipas tomorrow.
As soon as the 20-time Grand Slam champion raised his arms in exultation after the straight-sets triumph, Jelena took to Twitter to rejoice alongside her husband. She threw in the phrase "Idemo" (meaning "Let's go" in English), a phrase that has become increasingly popular among the World No. 1's fan base, to praise him on his landmark achievement.
"Idemoooooooo 1000! bravoooooooooo! yeeeessss!!!" she posted on Twitter.
Idemoooooooo 1000 🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌@DjokerNole bravoooooooooo 🥰🥰♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️ yeeeessss!!! https://t.co/FzYGZfVCZp
Novak Djokovic takes on Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final of the Italian Open
Following his victory over Casper Ruud, Novak Djokovic will take on Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final of the 2022 Italian Open. The Greek bested Alexander Zverev in a close three-setter in his semi-final encounter to set up a ninth meeting with the 34-year-old.
: Giampiero Sposito | @steftsitsipas | #IBI22
It's a maiden Rome final for Tsitsipas 🙌
He rallies to defeat Zverev 4-6 6-3 6-3
📷: Giampiero Sposito | @steftsitsipas | #IBI22 https://t.co/NGRrF3csjS
The World No. 1 currently leads their head-to-head 6-2 and has won each of their last five meet-ups. The duo have faced each other four times on clay before, with all four fixtures going in favor of the Serb.
Barring their 2019 Madrid Open encounter, all other clay meetings (2020 and 2021 Roland Garros, 2021 Italian Open) have gone to the decider. It is expected to be a very close contest, but the 20-time Grand Slam champion will be a slight favorite because of just how well he has played this week.
While Tsitsipas will be looking to win his second title of the year (and maiden Rome title), following his title defense at the Monte-Carlo Masters last month, the World No. 1 will be on the hunt for his first trophy of the year (and sixth Rome title).
Tsitsipas is back to #2 in the Race to Turin after his win over Zverev today!
With a win tomorrow in the Final, he will overtake Nadal to become #1 in the race.
If Stef wins tomorrow, it’ll be the 2nd straight year the Greek goes into RG leading the Race to Turin.
A win for the World No. 5 on Sunday will ensure that he leads the Race to Turin heading into the French Open, the second consecutive year he has done so. Meanwhile, Djokovic could rise to as high as No. 10 in the Race, just behind Ruud and ahead of Denis Shapovalov.
Elsewhere in Italy, Novak Djokovic gets his 1000th win, becoming the fifth (and oldest, surprisingly) man to hit that milestone with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Casper Ruud in the ATP 1000 Rome semifinals.
Faces Tsitsipas tomorrow in a rematch of last year’s French Open final.
In addition to that, the Serb could extend his lead over Rafael Nadal in the Masters 1000 title category with a win against Tsitsipas. The 34-year-old has 37 titles to his name at the moment, one more than the Spaniard's haul of 36.