Rome: World number one Novak Djokovic claimed his first title in over six months after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-0 7-6(5) to win the Italian Open on Sunday. Djokovic did not drop a set en route to the final in Rome, having picked up his 1,000th tour-level victory by beating Casper Ruud in the semi-final to book a clash with Tsitsipas - a repeat of last year's French Open final, which the Serb won.A sixth-successive win for Djokovic over his Greek opponent looked inevitable as he stormed through the first set with a blistering display of hitting, to which Tsitsipas had no answer. Tsitsipas's name rung around Campo Centrale in the fourth game of the second set, however, as an unforced error from Djokovic gave the Greek player two break points, the first of which he converted to take a 3-1 lead in the set.After Tsitsipas held to make it 4-1, Djokovic then upped it a gear, winning five of the next seven games to take it to a tiebreak before sealing his sixth Italian Open title, and first since winning the Paris Masters in November. It has been the perfect week for the 34-year-old, who became only the fifth man in the Open Era to reach the 1,000 wins milestone after Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer, Ivan Lendl and Rafa Nadal, ahead of the start of the French Open next Sunday.—REUTERS

World number one Novak Djokovic claimed his first title in over six months after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-0 7-6(5) to win the Italian Open on Sunday. 

Djokovic wins Italian Open to claim first title in over six months

Tennis

Rome: Former world number one Naomi Osaka has been forced out of the Italian Open 2022 due to a left ankle injury. Osaka announced her withdrawal on Monday afternoon. Nuria Parrizas Diaz will take Osaka's spot in the draw as a lucky loser and will face Sara Sorribes Tormo."Unfortunately I'm going to have to withdraw from Rome as the injury which I picked up last week in Madrid hasn't healed yet," Osaka said in a statement. "It's an Achilles injury so I need to be careful especially in advance of Roland Garros. "I love this city and always enjoy playing in front of the Italian fans so I will be sorry to miss them - but look forward to coming back next year."Osaka sustained her Achilles injury after her opening-round victory at the Madrid Open last week. She struggled to play with the injury in her 6-3, 6-1 loss to Sara Sorribes Tormo in the second round. Denmark's Clara Tauson also withdrew from the tournament citing a low back injury. She will be replaced by Madison Brengle as a lucky loser—PTI

Former world number one Naomi Osaka has been forced out of the Italian Open 2022 due to a left ankle injury. Osaka announced her withdrawal on Monday afternoon. Nuria Parrizas Diaz will take Osaka's spot in the draw as a lucky loser and will face Sara Sorribes Tormo.

Injured Naomi Osaka withdraws from Italian Open 2022

Madrid:&nbsp;Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic criticized Wimbledon's decision to exclude players from Russia and Belarus from taking part in this year's tournament following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The two tennis greats said Sunday that Wimbledon had acted unfairly. I think it's very unfair of (on) my Russian tennis mates, my colleagues ... it's not their fault what's happening in this moment with the war, Nadal, a 21-time Grand Slam winner, said in Spain where both he and Djokovic are preparing to play in the Madrid Open. I'm sorry for them, Nadal said. Wimbledon just took their decision ... the government didn't force them to do it." Nadal added: Let's see what happens in the next weeks, if the players will take some kind of decision in that regard. The ATP and WTA tennis tours have both publicly criticized the All England Club's decision which was announced April 20. Wimbledon starts on June 27. The prominent players affected by the ban include reigning U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, and French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who are all from Russia. Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, which has aided Russian forces, would also be unable to play. Djokovic compared the situation of the excluded players to what he went through in January when he was unable to play the Australian Open. He was deported from Australia for not being vaccinated against COVID-19. It's not the same thing, but going through something similar earlier this year for myself, it's frustrating knowing that you're not able to play, Djokovic said. I still stand by my position that I don't support the (Wimbledon) decision. I think it's just not fair, it's not right, but it is what it is. The All England Club had justified its action in a statement first posted on Twitter. In the circumstances of such unjustified and unprecedented military aggression, it would be unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive any benefits from the involvement of Russian or Belarusian players with The Championships, the statement said.—PTI

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic criticized Wimbledon's decision to exclude players from Russia and Belarus from taking part in this year's tournament following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.