Novak Djokovic wins 36th Masters title

WORLD number one Novak Djokovic won a record 36th Masters title by beating Diego Schwartzman in the Italian Open.

The Serb, playing in his first tournament since being disqualified from this month’s US Open, won 7-5 6-3 in the final to ensure he goes into next week’s French Open on a high.

Djokovic, 33, drew level with Rafael Nadal last month on the all-time list of Masters winners with his Western & Southern Open title.

“I’m super pleased,” Djokovic said.

“It was a great week, a very challenging week. I don’t think I played my best tennis this week but I think I found my best tennis in the decisive moments.

“I’m proud I managed to needed to find that fifth gear when I needed to.”

Watched by a crowd of about 1,000 socially distanced fans, Djokovic got off to a poor start against Argentine eighth seed Schwartzman, finding himself two breaks down at 3-0 as the rain fell in Rome. But as the weather improved so did the Serb’s game as he quickly strung together a double break of his own before going on to carve out a set point at 5-4 on Schwartzman’s serve, which the world number 15 saved with a forehand winner.– bbc.com