In just one week, Novak Djokovic has gone from searching for form to making history.

The World No. 1 defeated #NextGenATP Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday to win the Mutua Madrid Open, equalling Rafael Nadal’s record of 33 ATP Masters 1000 titles. It is also Djokovic’s 200th victory against a Top 10 opponent (200-90).

Djokovic arrived in the Caja Magica having made just one quarter-final in three tournaments since lifting the trophy at the Australian Open. But the Serbian found his top level for a third triumph in Madrid, having also emerged victorious in 2011 and 2016. The 31-year-old has never lost a championship match in the Spanish capital (3-0) and he now owns 74 tour-level trophies (74-33).

Djokovic put immediate pressure on the reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion, earning two break points in Tsitsipas’ first service game. Although the eighth seed staved off the Serbian’s first opportunity with an inside-out forehand winner, Tsitsipas missed an inside-in forehand approach shot long to give the top seed the early break.

That set the tone for the match, and Djokovic never cracked in his one-hour, 30-minute victory. He did not face a break point in the match to earn €1,202,520 and 1,000 ATP Ranking points.

Tsitsipas made a concerted effort early on to use his drop shot against the World No. 1, doing his best to keep the top seed off balance. But Djokovic was locked in from the baseline, neutralising the Greek’s serve to immediately get himself to neutral in rallies, even when returning.

Djokovic earned two break chances to take an early lead in the second set, but he uncharacteristically missed a forehand return long and then sailed a backhand long mid-rally on his second chance. While Tsitsipas did well to hold serve his next few service games, Djokovic found his best when it mattered most.

At 4-4, 15/30 in the second set, Djokovic threw a lob high into the Madrid sky, somehow landing it near the baseline, before hitting a Tsitsipas overhead for a backhand winner to give him two more break points. This time the top seed did not make a mistake, using a Tsitsipas error to break before serving out the match, finishing it off with a forehand approach shot for a winner.

Tsitsipas, who defeated Nadal in the semi-finals, had won the pair’s only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting last year in Toronto en route to his first Masters 1000 final. He was trying to become the ninth first-time winner at this level over the past 18 Masters 1000 tournaments.

Despite the loss, Tsitsipas leads the ATP Tour in wins this year with 27, and he will climb to a career-high World No. 7 on Monday. The three-time ATP Tour titlist leaves Spain with 600 points and €608,700 in prize money.

Juan Martin del Potro has won 22 ATP Tour titles, including his first ATP Masters 1000 title last year at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

But the 30-year-old Argentine doesn’t have his hopes pinned on winning his second Masters 1000 title and fifth clay-court crown this week at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.

Del Potro, still on the comeback after fracturing his right kneecap in October, is merely eager for more matches.

“To be honest, I’m not looking for a good result of the tournament. I just want to feel good on court, and that will be my best moment of this tournament. Doesn’t matter if I win right now because I’m starting to play again,” Del Potro said on Sunday during his pre-tournament press conference.

“If I play good, if I play another match and I close the match in good shape, it will be great for me.”

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Del Potro played in only his second tournament of the year last week at the Mutua Madrid Open, the season’s second clay-court Masters 1000 event. The Argentine fell to Rio Open presented by Claro champion Laslo Djere of Serbia in three sets in his opener.

His draw doesn’t get any easier in the Italian capital. Del Potro, the seventh seed, will face the winner of former No. 7 David Goffin and former No. 3 Stan Wawrinka.

View Draw | Read Draw Preview: Nadal Could Face Thiem In Rome QF Blockbuster

“I have a tough draw. So I’m supposed to play with Stan or Goffin in the first round, which is a really difficult match,” Del Potro said with a smirk.

“I’m feeling good. My game is improving after couple of days of hard training. That’s what I need to get back in my high level as soon as possible. Rome will be another good test to see how my body feels on court and playing in the match.”

Although his rehab has taken longer than he thought – Del Potro made his season debut in February at the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com – he is optimistic about his continued improvement.

“The only thing that all the players want to do is just play tennis. I wasn’t available to do that,” Del Potro said.

“I was really sad trying to fix the knee problem. It took a little bit longer than the doctor said. But now I’m having the chance to play another tournament. I’m feeling little bit better than Madrid… I’m ready to try once again.”

World No. 2 Rafael Nadal is used to tallying titles rather than losses on clay. But to the Spaniard, leaving the Mutua Madrid Open after a semi-final loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas is normal, even if he has yet to lift a trophy this season, the longest it has taken him to triumph in a season since 2004.

“I think that it’s more normal what is happening right now, than what happened in the past 14 years,” Nadal said. “I think I have tennis ahead of me. I have time ahead of me. I’ll be able to try to win this kind of tournament that I was not able to win this year. And what I have to do is to be fit and to play properly and a high tennis level.

“If I manage to do that next year, I think I will still have a very good opportunity to fight for all of these titles and for the rest of the year, I still have two [clay-court] tournaments. And we will see what happens there.”

It’s not that Nadal has not played well. The 32-year-old has made the semi-finals or better at five of his six tournaments this year, and he owns a 20-5 record on the season. But especially on clay, Nadal has set a precedent of domination, earning multiple clay-court titles every year since 2005.

“Tennis is about winning or losing. I have been able to win a lot for a lot of years on this surface. And this year, it seems that’s not the way and I am really close to it, but not managing to win,” Nadal said. “You just have to accept it and I have to accept it naturally. But to accept things does not mean to try to change things.

“But during all my life, I think I have taken the victories very naturally and with a lot of normality. With the losses I’ll do the same. It will be normal and I’m going to accept it naturally.”

Nadal does not want to read too much into possible reasons for not being able to close out tournaments in 2019. In his mind, he simply lost, and wants to move forward the best he can.

“We can try and find as many excuses, or ifs, or possibilities, or whys, but at the end, it’s a matter of playing good tennis and if you play at a good level, I think I would have been able to win today’s match,” Nadal said. “I wasn’t able to play as good as I wanted to play. So, the consequence is that I was not able to win the match.”

If for no other reason, this loss stings because Nadal was unable to triumph in front of his home fans at the Caja Magica, the home of the lone ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Spain.

“It’s a defeat. It’s a lost possibility to be able to play a final in an important tournament for me, a lovely tournament. I’ve lost that opportunity,” Nadal said. “It just means that I’m not going to be playing a match tomorrow, another day in front of all of these great people who come here to support me. And what they give me, it is impossible to describe and thank them enough.”

Nadal believes that he was not striking his groundstrokes deep enough in the court, and he did not punish mid-court forehands to the best of his ability. As the Spaniard said, “I was not able to create [for] him the feeling that he was going to suffer when I was hitting the forehand.” That allowed Tsitsipas to exert his own gameplan against the second seed.

“Being honest, my feeling is it was more about me tonight. He is young, he is improving and he has good talent. But I don’t see myself losing that match if I play the same level that I played in Barcelona 2018 final, or in Australia at the beginning of the season. That’s my feeling,” Nadal said. “Maybe it’s not the truth, but that is my feeling.”

After thrilling ATP Masters 1000 events on clay at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and the Mutua Madrid Open, the ATP Tour heads to Rome for the Internazionali BNL d’Italia with another 1,000 ATP Rankings points up for grabs for the titlist.

ATPTour.com looks at five first-round matches to watch:

Stan Wawrinka (SUI) vs. David Goffin (BEL)

For the first time since the 2016 BNP Paribas Open, Stan Wawrinka and David Goffin will meet on the ATP Tour. The 34-year-old Wawrinka leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 3-1, but the pair will be facing each other for the first time on clay at the fifth ATP Masters 1000 event of the season.

The Swiss will be aiming to build on his run to the Mutua Madrid Open quarter-finals with a strong showing in Rome, where he reached the championship match in 2008 (l. to Djokovic). Wawrinka owns a 22-13 record at the clay-court Masters 1000 tournament.

Goffin will be hoping to get back to winning ways after a first-round loss to Marton Fucsovics in Madrid. The Belgian, who has reached the quarter-finals in three of his past four visits to Rome, advanced to his second semi-final of the year at the Millennium Estoril Open (l. to Tsitsipas) earlier this month.

[12] Daniil Medvedev (RUS) vs. Nick Kyrgios (AUS)

Brace yourselves. Two of the most imaginative players on the ATP Tour are set to go head-to-head in the first round at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

World No. 14 Daniil Medvedev and Acapulco titlist Nick Kyrgios will face off at the Foro Italico for the first time in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, in a match which promises to entertain the crowds at the start of an exciting week in the Italian capital. Medvedev and Kyrgios will both enter the first-round match with cause for optimism, having each lifted silverware already in 2019.

Medvedev captured his fourth ATP Tour title at the Sofia Open in February (d. Fucsovics) and has also advanced to championship matches in Brisbane (l. to Nishikori) and Barcelona (l. to Thiem). The Russian owns 25 victories from 34 tour-level matches this season.

Kyrgios clinched his fifth tour-level trophy at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC in March. The Australian defeated Rafael Nadal, Wawrinka, John Isner and Alexander Zverev en route to the title.

[13] Borna Coric (CRO) vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN)

A meeting between two of the most exciting young talents on the ATP Tour. Borna Coric and Felix Auger-Aliassime both have a bright future ahead of them, but only one will make it past the first hurdle at the Foro Italico.

Both men have enjoyed impressive starts at Masters 1000 level this year, which was highlighted by their quarter-final clash at the Miami Open presented by Itau in March. In their first FedEx ATP Head2Head encounter, it was the #NextGenATP Canadian who progressed to the final four. But Coric will be encouraged by his reaction to that loss, another Masters 1000 quarter-final run at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (l. to Fognini).

Auger-Aliassime has also proven his credentials on the clay this year. The 18-year-old reached his first ATP Tour final on the surface at the Rio Open presented by Claro in February and has only been beaten by Top 10 opposition in his three previous European clay swing appearances this year.

[10] Fabio Fognini (ITA) vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)

There aren’t many first-round matches that will excite fans around the grounds more than this encounter. Fabio Fognini and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will contest the sixth chapter of this FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry, which has seen both players push each other to the limits.

Tsonga may lead their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 4-1, but Fognini enters the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in the form of his career after capturing his maiden Masters 1000 crown at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (d. Lajovic) last month. The Italian will be able to rely on the passionate support of his home crowd, which provided Fognini with great energy en route to victories over then-No. 1 Andy Murray in 2017 and Dominic Thiem last year.

Fognini will be confident of securing his second straight win over the Frenchman, who he defeated for the first time in their most recent meeting at the 2017 BNP Paribas Open. Tsonga will be making his first appearance at an ATP Tour event since the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, when he retired from his first-round match against Taylor Fritz with a back injury.

Read More: 2019 Internazionali BNL d’Italia Facts And Figures

Alex de Minaur (AUS) vs. [16] Marco Cecchinato (ITA)

Last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals runner-up Alex de Minaur will face a tough opening-round test against 2018 Roland Garros semi-finalist Marco Cecchinato. The Sydney International winner, who has struggled with injuries since reaching the Acapulco quarter-finals (l. to Zverev) in February, enters the match searching for form after an opening-round loss to fellow 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier Hubert Hurkacz at the Mutua Madrid Open.

In their only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting at the All England Club last year, the #NextGenATP Australian defeated Cecchinato in four sets to reach the second round. But the prospect of defeating the Italian on his favourite surface, in front of a lively Italian crowd, is a very different challenge.

Cecchinato has already clinched a clay-court title this year. The Palermo native did not drop a set en route to the Argentina Open trophy (d. Schwartzman) in February and also reached the BMW Open by FWU semi-finals (l. to Garin) earlier this month.

Top seed Novak Djokovic and eighth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas face off in a battle of experience against youth on Sunday in the Mutua Madrid Open final. Djokovic seeks his third title in Madrid and 33rd ATP Masters 1000 title overall, while Tsitsipas looks to lift his first Masters 1000 crown. The Serbian can also tie Rafael Nadal’s record for most Masters 1000 titles (33) with a win on Sunday.

After struggling for form since capturing the Australian Open trophy in January (d. Nadal), Djokovic has produced his best tennis once again in Madrid. The World No. 1 hasn’t dropped a set this week and defeated arguably the most in-form clay-court player this season in fifth seed Dominic Thiem to reach the final.

Djokovic will have familiarity with the occasion on his side in Sunday’s final. He’s competing in his 48th Masters 1000 final (32-15) compared to just two for Tsitsipas (0-1). The Serbian is 2-0 in Madrid finals, defeating Nadal in 2011 and Andy Murray in 2016.

Who will win the latest @FedEx ATP Head2Head match between these players?

— ATP Tour (@ATP_Tour) May 12, 2019

Although he’s the on-paper favourite, Djokovic knows better than to take his opponent lightly. The 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals champion won their only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting last August at the Rogers Cup en route to his maiden Masters 1000 final (l. to Nadal).

“He’s not an easy opponent to play against. He’s in form and a young player who is already Top 10 [in the ATP Rankings],” said Djokovic. “Hopefully I can be at my best because that is what is going to be needed to win.”

Tsitsipas is enjoying an incredible run in Madrid. The 20-year-old took out third seed and defending champion Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals before stunning five-time champion Nadal in a three-set thriller. Tsitsipas showed outstanding court coverage and creativity in his shotmaking to defeat a player inside the Top 2 of the ATP Rankings for the first time in his career, but the Greek knows that Djokovic will pose a much different test to what he faced last year in Toronto.

“I have never faced him on clay, so I don’t know what to expect. I have seen plenty of his matches, but I’m going to try to adapt to the way he is playing on clay as fast as I can because I’m pretty sure he is not easy on clay,” said Tsitsipas. “I’m going to have to be mentally focused and also psychologically ready for a fight. That will be very important in tomorrow’s match.”

Tsitsipas was ranked No. 40 in the ATP Rankings at this time last year and had to go through the qualifying draw in Rome. His rapid ascension since then includes his first three ATP Tour titles in Stockholm 2018 (d. Gulbis), Marseille 2019 (d. Kukushkin) and Estoril 2019 (d. Cuevas). He’s also reached his first Masters 1000 final in Toronto and first Grand Slam semi-final at the Australian Open. Tsitsipas is guaranteed to hit a career-high ATP Ranking of at least No. 7 on Monday, pending Sunday’s championship result.

With all the milestone firsts he’s been experiencing, Tsitsipas is confident he can add one more by taking his first Masters 1000 title.

“I’m more experienced [than last year], more fit and experience plays a huge role in the way you are going to play,” said Tsitsipas. “And more courageous. [I am] a more courageous Stefanos with more guts and mentally much tougher than I was the year before.”

The doubles final will see the Argentine-Austrian combination of Diego Schwartzman and Thiem face Dutchman Jean-Julien Rojer and Romanian Horia Tecau. Rojer-Tecau are seeking their second Masters 1000 title together, having won Madrid in 2016 (d. Bopanna/Mergea), while Schwartzman-Thiem look for their first ATP Tour doubles title at any level.

ORDER OF PLAY – SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2019

MANOLO SANTANA start 3:30pm
Jean-Julien Rojer (NED) / Horia Tecau (ROU) vs Diego Schwartzman (ARG) / Dominic Thiem (AUT)
Not Before 6:30 pm
[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs [8] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE)

Next Gen ATP Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas earned one of the biggest wins of his career on Saturday, defeating five-time champion Rafael Nadal 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 to reach the final of the Mutua Madrid Open.

“It means the world. I’m really happy that I proved myself today. I played one of my best games this year,” Tsitsipas said. “I’m really happy that I’m fighting, I’m in the zone. I’m enjoying tennis at its fullest potential. It’s really nice to be able to play this way. Today’s victory is just an unbelievable feeling.”

It is the three-time ATP Tour titlist’s second ATP Masters 1000 final, after also making the championship match at the Rogers Cup last year, losing to Nadal. Thanks to his victory, the 20-year-old is projected climb to a career-high ATP Ranking of at least No. 7 on Monday pending his result against World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the final.

Entering this match, Nadal had won all three of his FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings against Tsitsipas, claiming all seven sets they had played with only two of those sets going past 6-2. But Tsitsipas showed no fear of his opponent or the moment at the Caja Magica, playing aggressively throughout to triumph on his fourth match point after two hours and 34 minutes. He has now won eight consecutive matches.

“You cannot imagine the relief. It’s unbelievable. I don’t want to say this, but it almost felt like I lost hope at some point. [I lost] three in a row [against him],” Tsitsipas said. “I felt in Toronto when I played him I was very close and this match kind of gave me a bit of confidence I can do it in the future, but then it was too much. [I’m] really happy that I overcame this and dealt with it mentally. Beating him on clay makes it even more special”

Nadal held 26 of his 27 service games in Madrid to get to the last four. But Tsitsipas set the tone with an immediate service break, and he broke the Spaniard’s serve three times in the opener to show the second seed and the crowd that he was ready to challenge the five-time champion. Overall, the 20-year-old broke serve six times, while saving 11 of the 16 break points he faced.

“The mental discipline and being tough and being decisive in all those crucial moments I think was the key,” Tsitsipas said. “I had to take all those opportunities. Rafa is a fighter. He doesn’t give you free points. You’ve got to fight and give your best on every single point.”

Nadal dug into the Spanish clay after losing the opening set, winning his first two service games of the second set to love to change the momentum, moving his feet constantly to put himself in a position to thump his forehand and keep Tsitsipas from playing aggressively. The Spaniard broke twice and held all four of his service games to force a decider.

When many players may have wilted against both the physicality of Nadal’s game or the pressure of the stage, Tsitsipas continued to step into the court, taking the Spaniard’s topspin groundstrokes as early as he could and venturing to net plenty. Although Tsitsipas could not serve out the match at 5-2, he broke for the third time in the set to finish the match, dropping his racquet to the court after Nadal missed a backhand into the net.

Tsitsipas leads the ATP Tour with 27 match wins (27-9) this season, and with his triumphs in Marseille and Estoril, the 20-year-old is one of four players to capture multiple trophies thus far in 2019. Last year, Tsitsipas lost in the first round of the main draw in Madrid as the 40th player in the ATP Rankings. On Sunday, he will look to extend his FedEx ATP Head2Head series lead against Djokovic to 2-0, after also defeating the Serbian in Toronto.

“I have to play the same way. I have to be mentally prepared for a tough match. He’s in a pretty good state of his tennis, so it won’t be easy. He had some good matches coming into the final, so I’m going to have to be ready for that match,” Tsitsipas said. “I’m sure he wants the title as badly as me.”

Nadal was trying to reach his 50th ATP Masters 1000 final, and his ninth final in Madrid. The second seed is still pursuing his first trophy in 2019.

“I didn’t have a good feeling today to do the things I wanted to do and that’s all,” Nadal said. “I was clear what I had to do today, but tonight I wasn’t capable of doing it.”

Did You Know?
Tsitsipas prevailed in the match, but Nadal won six more points than the #NextGenATP Greek.

Diego Schwartzman and Dominic Thiem advanced to their second final of the 2019 season on Saturday, beating Guido Pella and Joao Sousa 6-3, 6-2 at the Mutua Madrid Open.

Schwartzman and Thiem, who reached the Argentina Open championship match in February (l. to Gonzalez/Zeballos), saved all four break points they faced to advance after 57 minutes. The Argentine-Austrian tandem dropped just five points behind its first serves (23/28) to set a final meeting with Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau.

Schwartzman and Thiem navigated two Match Tie-breaks en route to the last four. The unseeded duo came from a set down to beat David Marrero and Fernando Verdasco 4-6, 6-3, 10-3 in the first round and also rallied to beat sixth seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic 2-6, 6-3, 10-7 in the quarter-finals.

The unseeded duo improves to 9-3 at tour-level as a team. Schwartzman and Thiem first competed as a pairing at the 2017 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, before back-to-back appearances at the Argentina Open in 2018 and 2019.