Italian Open: Novak Djokovic Outlasts Casper Ruud To Reach Final

Top-seeded player Novak Djokovic is into the final of the Italian Open after a straight-set 7-5 6-3 win against Norwegian opponent Casper Ruud for his 10th final appearance at the tournament. Djokovic set up a final clash with either Diego Schwartzmann or Denis Shapovalov.

Djokovic did not find the opener to be easy against Ruud but denied entering tiebreak with the semi-final first-timer by winning two breaks to prevailed over him after 70 minutes. The second set was quite a breeze through for the Serb who at this point had good control of the match. 

Ruud's contest to stay in the tournament began to suffer a huge setback in the second set after conceding a break which gave Djokovic a 4-2 lead and claimed a service winner to consolidate is lead by 5-2. The 21-year-old tried narrowed the lead to 5-3 but was routed when the four-time champion won a match point with a service winner. 

"I don't take anything for granted, even after 15 years on the Tour," said the world number one. "I still have a hunger for the titles and putting myself in a position to fight for the title is exactly where I want to be."

The four-time champion saved seven out of eight breakpoint chances faced against Ruud and had 37 winners and 19 unforced errors as against his opponent who saved three out of nine points faced against the Serb.  

Already, Djokovic ties with Rafael Nadal on all-time Masters 1000 title winners, he will overtake the Spaniard by winning his 36th on his 52nd Masters 1000 finals - the Serb won this year's Cincinnati Masters for his 35th and was disqualified at the US Open for striking the ball at an official.