Novak Djokovic got off to an alarmingly slow start to his season-opening match before recovering for a 7-6(1), 6-3 win over Jan-Lennard Struff during first-round action at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Monday. Djokovic lost the first four games of the match but picked up the pace to prevail in one hour and 26 minutes.
Soon after the deficit reached 4-0 in the opening set, the world No. 2 found himself trailing 5-2. Struff, though, failed to serve things out at both 5-2 and 5-4. Djokovic eventually forced a tiebreaker and he was off to the races after cruising through it seven points to one.
“It’s first match of the year; you never know how you’re going to start,” Djokovic explained. “As well as you have trained in the preparation period and the days prior to the tournament, [it] really is different when it’s competitive play–when you start the official match and the crowd is there. It changes things mentally.
“I was a bit flat on my feet..but I stayed composed because I knew…that I could find the rhythm, start reading his serve better, and that’s what happened. Certainly I can play better, but it’s first match of the year. I know that I can’t be at my top the very first match, but I believe that the process is right.”
Next up for the second-seeded Serb is Horacio Zeballos, who led Florian Mayer 5-0 in a third-set tiebreaker before having to save two match points in a 6-7(3), 6-4, 7-6(9) victory.
At the Hopman Cup in Perth, Roger Federer played his first match since the 2016 Wimbledon semifinals and rolled over Dan Evans 6-3, 6-4 on Monday. Federer, who lost to Milos Raonic at the All-England Club, had been sidelined ever since by a knee injury.
“I was actually quite emotional, I must tell you,” the 35-year-old Swiss admitted. “Like when I walked in, I was like, ‘oh my God, this was better than I thought it was gonna be.’ And it felt good putting the match shirt back on and going out there and serving first, or trying to serve it out at the end.
“These are the moments I’ve missed the most, even though those are the ones that make you nervous. That’s why you play tennis, and I thought actually for [my first] match it was great because expectations are obviously quite low.”
Switzerland, led by Federer and Belinda Bencic, swept Great Britain 3-0.
Djokovic-Struff highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wc2x4NRjSrM
Federer-Evans highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4GOtIHp8GM
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Fed looked great. Not a great start for Nole, but at least he won.
Man I wish Struff won. Would’ve been a great moment for him and would’ve opened up the draw. Also pumped for fed. Allez Roger!!
Fed plunged to the ground today.
Fed lost to A Zverev in three TB sets. Did Zverev ever break serve in the match(I missed some part of it).
Can I say I expect the young gen guys not to be great returners of serves, very unlike Djoko, Murray and Rafa? I mean those three guys would have broken Fed’s serves today as Fed wasnt really serving in top form.
I cant find anyone among the young gen to be great ROSs, I think we are heading towards short points, big serve and big forehand tennis going forward, after Rafa, Djoko and Murray are gone.
Those three guys give Fed plenty of headaches and heartaches; without them Fed may still be dominating the field and sweeping up most if not all the slams.
luckystar (AT 4:25 PM),
The Fed vs Zverev match stats (see Point by Point, click buttons Set 1, Set 2, Set 3):
http://www.flashscore.com/match/QHtM4Tvs/#point-by-point;1
So effectively Zverev only broke serve once and thats in set one.
As Ricky says, exhos mean nothing.
You obviously missed the point.
Not really.
I just think you made an over generalization and a false conclusion.
Also, Rafa and Murray have only stopped Fed once each over the last four years.
Only Nole has consistently blocked him five times over that span.
So he wouldn’t be winning most if not all the slams without them as he’s lost to random guys in slams like Seppi, Gulbis, Tsonga, CryBaby, Cilic, Robredo, Stakhovsky and Berdych.
So there really wasn’t any valid point for me to miss TBH.
Oh and of course Milos stopped him most recently.
(How could I forget My fellow Canadian!!!)
As far as young gen goes such as Zverev, Kyrgios, etc., simply much too early to say. Not fair to judge those guys so early.
Highlights from the Fedrev match.
Sasha shows a great mix. Plenty of BH winners and using BH to construct the point along with some solid net play in addition to great serving and FH obviously.
Court is playing fast but still good mix of points in the match so I really look forward to watching Zverev in the coming years.
And Kyrgios can be extremely creative the rare time his head is on straight.
I add to My post AT 7:57 PM
(forgot the link)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qH9yEo0gEg
Ha! Just saw this on a competing site. Great minds think alike.
Margot Says:
Van P: Fed looked slow to me, therefore his timing on the ball was off. Now whether that’s because he’s had 6 months out of tennis or whether it’s age catching up, only time will tell.
Sascha is so talented tho. Moves so well for such a tall bloke and has great skills at the net.
Give him a couple of years….after Andy has retired..;) And wow!
At last I think we really are seeing the rise of another very talented generation.
Now I can’t wait to see Naughty Nick play Sascha.
#DeuceKnowsHerTennis
I fear that we are heading for a very different style of tennis after Fed, Rafa, Murray and Novak are hine. They all have great ROS, along with the ability to construct points intellingently. They have complete games and stellar fitness and mental strength.
The younger generation do not have the same fitness level and mental strength and also seem to rely on big strike tennis with shorter points, big serves and a one-two punch.
I am not looking forward to that kind of tennis. Fortunately, we will have tge top guys around for a while.
Fed is BACK….Praise the Lord!