Novak Djokovic took his place in the Italian Open semi-finals on Friday with a 7-5, 7-6 (7-1) win over Felix Auger-Aliassime which guaranteed that he would remain world number one for a 370th week.
Top seed Djokovic is chasing a sixth title in Rome ahead of Roland Garros later this month, and needed more than two hours to win a match which featured some magnificent tennis from big-hitting Auger-Aliassime. Canada’s Auger-Aliassime crashed in serves of over 200km/h, hitting 11 aces, and showed a wide range of bold shots in his first ever match against 20-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic.
‘It wasn’t easy to return’
“He’s got the lethal serve, honestly, one thing is to practice another thing is to play against someone in an official match…It was not easy at all for me to return,” Djokovic said after the match.
Tsitsipas in final
Stefanos Tsitsipas moved into the Italian Open final on Saturday after beating Alexander Zverev 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in an entertaining last four battle in Rome. Monte Carlo Masters champion Tsitsipas impressed on a boiling hot centre court at the Foro Italico, continuing his dominance of two-time ATP Finals winner Zverev to reach his first ever final in the Italian capital.
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