Italian Open: Novak Djokovic faces Diego Schwartzman in the final

Novak Djokovic is only one win away from claiming the Italian Open title. However, he still has to overcome Diego Schwartzman, who knocked out the "King of Clay" Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals.

World number one Djokovic defeated Norwegian Casper Ruud in the semi-finals 7-5, 6-3. The straight sets victory booked him a spot in the final against the eighth-seeded Schwartzman. The Serbian star is determined to have a great finish in Italy after his botched US Open outing.

Djokovic lost his opportunity to come within one Grand Slam victory away from Nadal's record of 19 titles after he was disqualified from the US Open. The Joker failed to add to his 17-title tally after he let his temper get the best of him. He swung at a ball out of frustration in the middle of a match and inadvertently hit a line judge in the throat.

Although he clearly did not intend to hurt anybody, the deliberate action to hit the ball back out of frustration caused his immediate disqualification. He was the favourite to win the event, which would have brought him closer to equalling Nadal and catching Roger Federer's 20-Grand Slam title record.

The Italian Open is seen as a warm up event to the upcoming French Open, which is the final Grand Slam of the year. It was originally scheduled to be played back in May, but will now begin on Sept. 27 after having been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"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," Djokovic told the BBC.

With Federer out for the rest of the year after a knee surgery and with Nadal not in his best form, the French Open is presenting a huge opportunity for the Serbian star.

In the women's draw, Simona Halep will be facing Karolina Pliskova in the final. The women's match will be played ahead of the men's final today, Sept. 21 starting at 2:00 pm CET.