‘The crowd is often against me but…’ Novak Djokovic lauds the Italian crowd after scoring a win against Aslan Karatsev at the Rome Masters

Top seed Novak Djokovic starts his Rome Masters campaign on a positive note with a convincing win over Russian Aslan Karatsev. He defeated Karatsev in straight sets 6-3,6-2 to reach the Round of 16 of the Italian Open. With this victory, Djokovic also registered his 60th win in the Italian capital.

Djokovic is improving with each passing day since his return on tour after the vaccination debacle and once again played very well to faze off a stern challenge from Karatsev. He was on song right from the beginning and held serve perfectly. A few informed errors from Karatsev surely helped his cause as he took the first set with a break up 6-3.

He carried the momentum into the second set and Karatsev’s level dropped too. The Russian struggled on serve and got broken twice courtesy of his error count from the baseline. The Serb eventually won the set 6-2 to reach the third round of the Rome Masters where he’ll face either Laslo Djere or Stan Wawrinka.

Also Read: “Novak Djokovic misses Vajda” Former coach Goran Ivanisevic calls the Croatian ‘inexperienced’ to lead the World No. 1

‘He probably has the biggest calves we have in tennis’: Novak Djokovic on Aslan Karatsev

After his win, Djokovic spoke highly of Karatsev and emphasized how strong he is from the baseline. He even joked that he has the biggest calves in tennis.

“He probably has the biggest calves we have in tennis,” he joked. “Very strong guy. Solid from the baseline. You never know with him if he’s feeling the ball. He can be very dangerous because he stays so close to the line and puts pressure on his opponents. He was missing a lot of balls, though. He gave me a couple of breaks but I will take this win. It’s a straight-set win against a quality opponent and I’m looking forward to the next challenge.”

Djokovic also was received very well by the Rome crowd and he didn’t forget to address them. He said that even throughout his career, the crowd is often against him but that is not the case in Rome.

“The truth is that during all my career the crowd was often against me. Here in Rome I always had a lot of support, there is a reason if I say that Rome is my second home,” he said.

Also Read: “If you met him on the street you won’t know he has won 21 titles,” Casper Ruud heaps praise on Rafael Nadal’s humble nature

Also Read: How Daniil Medvedev can replace Novak Djokovic as the World No. 1 without playing the Italian Open