(Belgrade) The world No.1 Novak Djokovic qualified in pain for the quarter-finals of the Belgrade ATP tournament on Wednesday in the Serbian capital by painfully dismissing his compatriot Laslo Djere (N.50) 2-6, 7- 6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/4).
Posted yesterday at 3:37 p.m.
“Nole” had to fight nearly three and a half hours (3:21) to win this victory a little against the tide of the game he managed to produce.
Broken and led 4-3 in the second set, the 34-year-old Serb found the means to come back to the score and push to the decisive game in the last two sets, which he won not without trembling.
“Djere was the best player today, he controlled the game, attacked, I didn’t feel good about my game, I had a bad service game,” Djokovic told reporters.
The N.1 at ATP said he was however satisfied with the way he managed to hang on physically. “It’s a positive difference compared to Monte-Carlo where I was not able to hold on physically in the third set,” he added.
Djokovic lost his first meeting of the year on clay last week in the Principality against the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich, future finalist.
By his own admission, Djokovic hopes to accumulate matches on this surface in order to get closer to his best form by Roland-Garros.
“Clay requires more time spent on the pitch, in training and in matches. I hope I will play more matches than in Monte-Carlo,” he said on Monday.
Greeted as a hero by an ebullient crowd, the man with twenty Grand Slam tournaments won the game very badly, giving up his service twice in the first set.
Djokovic appeared heavy-legged, always a little behind on the balls and often out of breath.
His first game in front of his home crowd, in his hometown, confirmed his lack of matches.
It was the 5and meeting the Serb on the circuit since his defeat in the semi-finals of the Masters in mid-November 2021, he who could not play the Australian Open or the Masters 1000 of Indian Wells and Miami because of his refusal to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
In the quarter-finals, he will face another Serbian player, Miomir Kecmanovic, in great shape and who, at the start of the afternoon, defeated the Australian John Millman in two sets 6-4, 7-6 ( 5).