World no.1 Novak Djokovic made a profitable return to motion on Tuesday, when he defeated world no.198 Ivan Gakhov 7-6 (5), 6-2 to succeed in the third spherical on the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. The match lasted one hour and 47 minutes.
Novak needed to work exhausting to beat the Russian qualifier. After the gamers traded breaks as soon as within the opening set, they ended up in a tie-break. It was the highest seed who emerged victorious, 7-5.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion raised his degree within the second set and located flaws Gakhov’s recreation to interrupt his serve twice, within the fifth and seventh video games. He’s now 16-1 on the season.
“It was, when you can name it that approach, an unsightly tennis win for me at the moment,” Djokovic stated. “I haven’t performed my greatest, significantly within the first set. And I type of anticipated that that was going to occur with swirly circumstances, quite a lot of wind at the moment, altering instructions. It’s totally different practising after which enjoying an official match on clay, the place I suppose no two bounces are the identical. It’s at all times fairly unpredictable what’s going to occur. However all in all, I’m simply happy with the way in which I held my nerves within the essential moments and I managed to clinch the two-set win. He is aware of how one can play, little doubt about it. Massive serve, forehand, flat backhand stepping in. So it was a really tough opponent for at the moment, however I’m glad I overcame the problem.”
Match statistics: aces (4-5), double faults (2-7), winners (14-24), unforced errors (21-31), complete factors received (79-63).
Novak will subsequent play in opposition to the winner of the match between two Italians, no.16 seed Lorenzo Musetti and qualifier Luca Nardi.
The Serbian star is pursuing a record-extending thirty ninth ATP Masters 1000 title and his third trophy in Monte-Carlo.
Photograph: Profimedia
