The number 1 in the world defeated his compatriot Filip Krajinovic at the start of the Erste Bank Open.
Tennis star Novak Djokovic reached the round of 16 of the Erste Bank Open, but had trouble and a little luck in the 7: 6 (6), 6: 3 against Filip Krajinovic. In the duel between the Serbs, the outsider was the better player in set one and also found a set ball, but the reward never came. An early break in the second round set the course for success that was fixed in 88 minutes. Djokovic will now play for the quarter-finals against Croatian Borna Coric on Wednesday (not before 5.30 p.m.).
After the match point was used, Djokovic whispered in his friend Krajinovic’s ear that he was a little happy even in the first set. “I really was. We train a lot together, even before we came here. He knows my game and I know his game very well. It was a tough lot. There is always extra pressure when you know someone very well. He has to The set served in the tiebreaker, a point or two here and there can change the momentum in the match. I’m just happy that I won. “
Djokovic with hymns of praise for Vienna
At the beginning of the winner’s interview on Center Court, Djokovic implemented his announcement from the press conference on Sunday and spoke a few sentences in German. “I trained in Germany when I was 12, 13, 14 years old. I had the German language at school. I feel very, very comfortable here. Thanks for the support and the welcome,” he said of the 1,000 fans in the Wiener Stadthalle before they had to make room for the visitors to the “night session”.
Krajinovic had already defeated Djokovic this year, in June at the Belgrade invitation tournament of the Adria Tour, which was ultimately won by Dominic Thiem. It was only the third duel between the two on the ATP tour, with Djokovic prevailing a good month ago in the Rome round of 16 with the almost identical result of 7: 6 (7), 6: 3.
“I know I can play better”
On Tuesday, Krajinovic was out for revenge. Although he saw himself 1: 3 behind, but with two breaks or four games in a row he turned the round to 5: 3 for the time being. The 33-year-old Djokovic saved himself in the tiebreak, here too Krajinovic had a 5: 3 and 6: 5 a set ball. At 6: 6, the 28-year-old smashed the net, Djokovic used his first set ball. The second set was also not that clear, but with breaks to 2: 1 and 6: 3, the world number one made everything clear.
“It was my first indoor game in a long time,” recalled Djokovic afterwards. “It wasn’t my highest level yet. I tried to stay positive. I know I can play better. It often happens to me that I don’t start a tournament that well.” So he should be easier against Coric. It is set to be the first round of 16 at this year’s ATP tournament. In the head-to-head with the 23-year-old number 24 in the world rankings, it is 3-0 for Djokovic.
Parallel to the Djokovic game, Daniel Evans qualified for the second round on Thursday against the Austrian Jurij Rodionov. With a 6: 3.4: 5 lead, the Brit benefited from the abandonment of the Slovenian qualifier Aljaz Bedene. The 30-year-old Evans is 33rd in the ranking 120 places ahead of Rodionov, in the head-to-head it is 1: 1. Other winners early Tuesday were Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) with 7: 6 (6), 6: 3 against Karen Chatschanow (RUS) and Hubert Hurkacz (POL) with 6: 3.7: 5 against Attila Balasz (HUN).
You can read the game here in the Sport24 LIVE ticker:
