Stefanos Tsitsipas hails ‘close to perfection’ Novak Djokovic after Rome final
World number five Stefanos Tsitipas has labelled Novak Djokovic as “close to perfection” as the Serb beat the Greek to lift his record-extending 38th Masters 1000 title.
On Sunday, the 20-time Grand Slam champion capped off an historic week where he overcame Stefanos Tsitipas 6-0, 7-6(5) to capture his sixth Rome title in his 1001st match win.
The Serbian became the fifth man in the Open Era to earn 1,000 match wins when he defeated Casper Ruud in the semi-finals and he backed that up with a hard-fought display against Tsitsipas to win his first title of the season after one hour and 37 minutes.
Djokovic put on an impressive display in front of a full house at the Foro Italico as he outplayed the Greek in the first set, before he showcased his typical grit and determination in the second set, rallying from 1-4 down to become the oldest Rome champion at 34 years, 11 months and 23 days.
For Stefanos Tsitsipas, it was a repeat of his defeat to the 34-year-old in last year’s final at Roland-Garros and his fifth successive loss on clay to Djokovic whilst appearing in his first final in the Italian capital.
Reflecting on the final, the 2022 Monte Carlo Masters champion waxed lyrically about the two-time French Open champion stating Djokovic was “close to perfection”.
Speaking to reporters post-match, Tsitsipas said, “He has everything tuned in close to perfection.
“When it comes to his diet or his everyday life, his tennis, he has everything scheduled out really well.
“He’s like a Formula 1 car: every single small detail can disrupt his rhythm. He makes sure every single thing that he does is reaching as close to perfection as possible.
“In terms of talking about tennis legends and breaking records, when it comes to all these things, I personally think he’s one of the most professional and the best of them all.”
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