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Former World No. 1 Andy Roddick lauded Novak Djokovic for entering 'vintage Novak' mode in his Rome final win against Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday.
In his 12th final at the Foro Italico, the reigning World No. 1 started like a house on fire. Djokovic laid siege to Tsitsipas' serve, breaking the young Greek three times en route to winning the first set 6-0.
The Serb's level dropped a bit at the start of the second set, and Tsitsipas pounced to grab an early break and lead 5-2. However, the latter failed to serve out the set and Djokovic forced a tie-break, where he burst into a 5-2 lead. Although Tsitsipas got back to 5-5, the first set point came Djokovic's way, which he converted to close out a straight-sets win.
In the process, the 34-year-old bagged his first title of the year, sixth in Rome and 38th in Masters 1000 tournaments.
On Tennis Channel Live, Roddick stated that Novak Djokovic's ability to contain his errors, particularly in big moments, is peerless. He said:
"The second-set tiebreaker was vintage Novak. He's able to lock down the errors, may be better than anyone I have seen in the history of the game. Playing safe, but still moving the ball around, getting the patterns he wants. When the pressure mounts, being able to get your pattern is important. He does that as well as anyone."
Roddick added:
"Why I appreciate the Big 3, winning matches you are supposed to win all the time is difficult with that pressure, and he just went through it again. Second serve was tight. Was barely getting above.70 miles an hour in the second-set tiebreaker, but he went into lockdown mode. It looks like he is pushing. He is not. He is finding the pattern he wants to get into and does it as well as anyone."
Novak Djokovic becomes oldest Rome champion
The Rome Masters is Novak Djokovic's most successful claycourt tournament. Coming into the match against Tsitsipas on Sunday, Djokovic was 5-6 in Rome finals, having lost four of his last five title matches.
However, the World No. 1 never looked in any real trouble against his Greek opponent, except early in the second set. Djokovic upped the ante in key moments to become the oldest player to win the Rome Masters.
Rafael Nadal was 34 years, 11 months and 13 days old when he won his 10th title in the Italian capital last year. Novak Djokovic broke that mark by 10 days.
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