(Tennis news) Novak Djokovic secured his first title in over six months after defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-0 7-6 (7-5) in the Italian Open finals on Sunday. The Serbian had not won a title since the Paris Masters in November but his performance in Rome was so sublime that he didn’t drop a single set to secure the Italian Open title. Djokovic produced 24 winners to Tsitsipas’ eight and had only 14 unforced errors to Tsitsipas' 20.

Speaking after his match, Djokovic said “I've been building my form the last few weeks. It couldn't be better timing coming into Roland Garros. Perfect scenario for me. This year it was a particular situation. With everything that happened in Australia, it took some time. I found my best shape here. I'm going to Paris with a lot of confidence."

It was his sixth successive win over the Greek tennis player as Djokovic stormed through the first set. In the fourth game of the second set, an unforced error by Djokovic gave Tsitsipas two break points which led to him taking a 3-1 lead. However, the Serbian then gained momentum to win five of his next seven games to take it to a tie-break before winning his sixth Italian Open title in his illustrious career. 

The 34 year old became only the fifth player in the Open era to reach the 1,000 wins milestone, joining the exclusive club of Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer, Ivan Lendl and Rafa Nadal. During the trophy ceremony, Djokovic dedicated his title to his son Stefan. He said “Today at 4pm, when we started this match, my son Stefan, who is seven-years-old, was playing his first tennis match. I hope he won. This is for him." 

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