From the first game materialized by a break against Tennys Sandgren, Novak Djokovic reassured his fans. He is doing well, even very well. His neck problem has been relegated to the radius of small recovery incidents and his tennis is already very much in place as shown by his victory (6-2, 6-4) against the American, recent quarter-finalist at the Open d Australia where he had lost seven match points against Roger Federer. For his second official post-Covid match, the world number 1 was impressive. Laid back when he entered the court with an amused little salute from the empty stands, he completely mastered his subject.
Lively at the bottom of the court, precise in his areas and convincing in service (from the first to around 200 km / h and some seconds to almost 190 km / h), the Serb never trembled with early breaks in each set. After a more rough first lap where he had suffered a neck injury and was surprised by the speed of the court, he regained his cruising pace.
Even the small scare at 6-2, 4-3 (0-40) was handled well with a winning volley, a backhand on the block and a forehand cross attack. From the “Djoko” from Melbourne at the start of the year … He therefore remains undefeated this season with this 20th victory in a row (22 including both of the Davis Cup 2020). In the quarter-finals, he will face the German Jan-Lennard Struff, defender of David Goffin.
.
