‘Blessed and privileged’ – Novak Djokovic reacts to hitting mammoth milestone

World number one Novak Djokovic has said he’s “blessed and privileged” after claiming his 1,000th career tour level win at the Rome Open. 

The Serbian reached the milestone on Saturday after defeating Norway’s Casper Ruud in a dominant semi-final display in the Italian capital.

The world number one looked in imperious form as he claimed a fourth successive straight sets victory winning 6-4, 6-3, reaching the final in Rome for the fourth year in a row and the 12th time in his career.

The world number one joins elite company with Roger Federer, Ivan Lendl, Rafael Nadal, Jimmy Connors the only other players in the 1,000 club.

Djokovic will take on Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final after the Greek defeated 2017 champion Alexander Zverev in his semi-final.

He’ll be seeking to win a record-extending 38th ATP Masters 1000 title and also his sixth title Rome Open title.

Speaking post-match Novak Djokovic reflected on the career milestone stating he “blessed and priveliged” to have won 1000 matches in his career, yet does believe there is many more to come.

The 20-time Grand Slam winner told reporters, “I’ve seen Roger and Rafa celebrate those milestones in the last couple of years and I was looking forward to get to that 1,000 myself.

“I’m really, really blessed and privileged to have that many victories on the Tour. It’s been a long time, ever since I won my first match on the Tour. Hopefully I can keep going and many more victories to come.”

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