A week before the French Open, Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas are about to lock horns at the Italian Open.
For Tsitsipas, this will be the first Rome final where he managed to get after beating Alexander Zverev 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
The top-ranked Serb on the other hand, beat Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday after having missed a big chunk of the season’s big tournaments.
Tomorrow, Sunday he will attempt to win his sixth Italian Open and hit the milestone of 1000 victories.
Djokovic’s most recent match against Tsitsipas came in last year’s French Open final, when he rallied from two sets under Tsitsipas to win the trophy.
Greece’s top tennis star, has been pushed to three sets in three of his four matches this week, having also overcome local favorite Jannik Sinner in straight sets in the quarterfinals.
Even though he has played some exhausted matches, Tsitsipas says he is more prepared than ever to face the Serb.
“I’ve looked back to those matches. I’ve analysed them,” Tsitsipas said.
“There are things that didn’t work for me after two sets to love up in Roland Garros. I guess I was always pretty stubborn, didn’t want to change (tactics). … There’s always one more match where I can perhaps maybe do something different.”