“This is a very important win,” Novak Djokovic begins his Madrid Open quest with a victory over Gael Monfils
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Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic defeated Gael Monfils of France 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the third round of the Madrid Masters on Tuesday, becoming the first man to defeat an opponent 18 times on the ATP Tour. The world No. 1 was challenged early on in his return to Madrid for the first time since winning the title in 2019, but following a rain delay at 2-2, he drew away to set up a fascinating third-round match with either Denis Shapovalov or Andy Murray.
“I played one of the most athletic and quickest players”- Novak Djokovic
After an early loss in Monte-Carlo, Djokovic looked much better in Belgrade, possibly motivated by the presence of Monfils across the net. Monfils made a great start and had two break point opportunities at 1-1, but Djokovic saved both and maintained his lead. The Frenchman held for a 2-2 tie, and Djokovic was serving deuce when the rain came down, driving the players off the court.
Monfils appeared to be more affected by the interruption than Djokovic, who, after consulting with coach Goran Ivanisevic about his serve, began with an ace, held service, and then broke in the next game to take the opener 5-2. An early break put Djokovic in charge in the second and a second one gave him the insurance he needed to relax and begin to play some of his best tennis.
Monfils, who was playing his first clay-court match of the season, fought back and had two break points on Djokovic’s serve, the 35-year-old served out to ensure he stays world No 1 for a while longer yet.
After his match, in his on-court interviews, Novak Djokovic said, “I don’t have any explanation for that, I just try to approach it like any other match. I guess his game is suitable to my game in terms of playing style. But we’ve had some very close matchups. The last time we played in Dubai he had match points, so that could have easily broken the record. I don’t think about that too much. For me mentally this is a very important win.”
“I played one of the most athletic and quickest players that we have in the game,” Djokovic said. “I know his game very well. I know I have to always be ready that another ball will always come back from his part of the court, that you have to constantly try to have a controlled aggression… and dictate the point.”
The World No.1 concluded by saying, “I was moving well, dictating with the forehand side, moving him around the court and finding my serve [and] also the last few service games, [finding my] return.”
Novak Djokovic to face either Andy Murray or Denis Shapovalov
In the last-16, Novak Djokovic will meet either 14th seed Denis Shapovalov or wild card Andy Murray. Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic have faced each other 36 times (including 19 finals), with Djokovic holding a 25–11 overall and 11–8 finals advantage. When it comes to Denis Shapovalov, he has met the Serb 7 times before. The World No. 1 was victorious in all of their encounters.
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Pritha Ghosh
(414 Articles Published)