Indian Wells (US), March 10 (IANS) The World No. 1 and five-time champion Novak Djokovic survived an opening-round scare in his return to Paribas Open, taken the distance by World No. 69 Australian Aleksandar Vukic before eventually grinding out a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 victory.
Playing for the first time since his loss in the 2024 Australian Open semifinals to Jannik Sinner, Djokovic recorded his 400th Masters 1000 win, and improved to 51-9 lifetime at Indian Wells with his triumph on Saturday night.
“Five years is a very long time for a tennis player. It’s amazing to be a part of this tournament as a player. There’s a great community, culture and love for the sport, and for tennis – you can feel it,” Djokovic told the crowd after his win.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion was out of the blocks quickly in his first appearance in the California desert since 2019, breaking for 1-0, and then solidifying his hold on the set with another break for 5-2. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the 36-year-old legend.
The Aussie rebounded in set two, and he made his opportunity to prolong the match count when he scorched a forehand inside-out return to break Djokovic and claim the second set, 7-5, at the 90-minute mark.
Djokovic put his best serving on repeat and dropped a mere five points on serve across the stanza.
Vukic, sensing the inevitability of the situation, yielded a break in the fifth game, and another in the final game of the contest, Djokovic blew kisses to the raucous crowd, the match done and dusted in two hours and 10 hard-fought minutes.
The Serb will next meet Italian lucky loser Luca Nardi, who defeated China’s Zhang Zhizhen 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. It will be the first ATP Head-to-Head meeting between the pair.
–IANS
bc/
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by TodayIndia.news and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of TodayIndia.news We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, TodayIndia.news takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
