And then there is Djokovic. The more the days pass at the Foro Italico, the more the number 1 gets closer to his best form, the more he plays games and the more his stats improve. Beating in the quarter-finals in two tense sets (7-5 7-6) the 21-year-old Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime – 14 years younger than him – Djokovic reached 999 victories as a professional. Tonight’s semifinal against Casper Ruud – who yesterday eliminated Denis Shapovalov – could therefore turn into yet another round figure in his career. Arriving in the last four of the tournament, he still guaranteed the lead in the standings for the 370th week overall, which he would have had to yield to Daniil Medvedev on Monday in case of defeat. All this within a week of his 35th birthday. “It seemed like a high-level tennis to me,” said Djokovic after the match. “Felix forced me to raise the bar. I think I could have finished earlier … But he is a complete player and he deserves credit for having fought. And also tonight on the Centrale there was a fantastic atmosphere ».
In Rome, the Djoker is on the hunt for the third title and the eleventh final. At Roland Garros, which starts in ten days, he could become the first ever to play at least 7 finals in each Grand Slam (in Paris there are six, nine in Australia, seven in Wimbledon and nine in the US Open), the first to play in overall 32 Grand Slam finals (now he is tied for 31 with Federer) and equalized the record of 21 wins in the majors of Nadal. Also in Paris he could take a fantastic treble: winning the tournament for the third time he would become the only one to have won all the Slams at least three times.
For now, however, the obstacle is called Casper Ruud: the two curiously met only in Italy, in 2020 here in Rome and in 2021 at the ATP Finals in Turin, and Djokovic has always won in two sets.
After the elimination of Jannik Sinner in singles, in the afternoon came a satisfaction for Italy: Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini earned the semifinal overcoming the Germans Krawietz and Mies for 6-7 6-4 11-9 (the third partial is a tiebreak) and today they face in the semifinals the Croatians Pavic and Mektic, reigning champions of Wimbledon and the Olympics who in November helped to eliminate us in the round of 16 of the Davis Cup when in the field for Italy Fognini took the field alongside Sinner. Fabio and Simone have resumed playing together regularly this year, 11 years after the Grand Slam title they won in Australia and their first semifinal at the Forum. Now I am number 4 in the race towards the ATP Finals and a stone’s throw from a feat – a couple victory at the Internazionali – which has always escaped the Italians, including Pietrangeli and Sirola who also played in seven finals here.
Here is the complete program of the day today, dedicated to the semifinals (live on Sky TV):
Dalle 12.00: Iga Swiatek- Aryna Sabalenka
Non prima delle 14.30: Stefanos Tsitsipas-Alexander Zverev.
Not before 5pm: Ons Jabeur-Daria Kasatkina
Not before 7.30 pm: Novak Djokovic-Casper Ruud (5)
Following: Mektic / Pavic-Bolelli / Fognini