Novak Djokovic Surpasses Rafael Nadal In Elite Record After Clinching 5th Italian Open Title

Novak Djokovic surpassed arch-rival, Rafael Nadal, in yet another record in tennis after he clinched the ATP Italian Open Monday.

Djokovic defeated Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman 7-5, 6-3 in the final to claim a record-breaking 36th ATP Masters 1000 title, which was also his fifth Internazionali BNL d’Italia trophy. Prior to the win, he was tied with Nadal at 35 ATP Masters 1000 titles, while Roger Federer has 28 titles to his name.

With 17 Grand Slams, 36 Masters 1000, and five Nitto ATP Final trophies, Djokovic leads the list of ‘Big Titles’ on 58, three clear of Nadal, and four more than Federer. Putting Djokovic’s run so far in perspective, the 33-year-old Serbian has won a ‘Big Title’ every 3.3 tournaments played (58 out of 191). Since the start of 2019, the Word No.1 has triumphed in three Grand Slams and four Masters 1000 titles.

According to ATP’s official website, Djokovic’s winning percentage is better than Nadal, who has won a ‘Big Title’ every 3.4 tournaments (55 of 187), while the 39-year-old Federer takes 4.3 events (54 of 237) to win one ‘Big Title’.

After the record victory in Rome Monday, Djokovic in a post-match interview insisted that he had played his best tennis throughout the week in Italy.

"It was a great week. A very challenging week. I don’t think I played my best tennis throughout the entire week, but I think I found my best tennis when I needed it the most in the decisive moments today, yesterday [and in] practically every match. That definitely makes me very satisfied and proud that I managed to find that fifth gear when it was most needed. Turning to Paris, I couldn’t ask for a better tournament here in Rome. Another big title and [I am] super pleased with it," added Djokovic in the same interview.

Djokovic, who has been in a great form for a while now, had a great opportunity to reduce the Grand Slam deficit at the 2020 US Open, which did not feature both Nadal and Federer. Unfortunately, Djokovic was slammed with a disqualification for hitting a line-judge with the ball. Even though it was unintentional, it was still against the ATP rules, which saw Djokovic receiving a default.