Melbourne: Second seed Novak Djokovic was forced to work hard Monday by Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff in his first match of the Australian Open tennis tournament before prevailing 7-6(7-5), 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 to stay on course for a record-extending eighth title at Melbourne Park.
It was a similar sort of a hard-fought match for women’s top seed and home favourite Ashleigh Barty. She lost the first set but came back strongly to win 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 against Lesia Tsurenko.
Playing against an opponent he defeated both times in straight sets in the past, Djokovic lost his serve four times in the match on Rod Laver Arena, where he beat Rafa Nadal in last year’s final to pick up a seventh Australian Open title.
The 32-year-old, however, managed to play at a different gear in the fourth set and in the end appeared in control of the match against the big-serving German.
“Overall it was a really solid start, especially in the second and the fourth set I played on a higher level. (I) served pretty good, lots of aces, high percentage of first serves in,” Djokovic told reporters.
“I felt kind of in control of the match. Even when I lost the third set I just felt like ‘if I am on the right level, I have the upper hand’. I ended this match in a good fashion, in a right way and this is very positive,” Djokovic stated.
Djokovic got off to a strong start for a 5-2 lead in the opening set but the German World No.37 fought back to level things at 5-5 before going down in a closely fought tie-breaker.
The second set proved relatively simpler for the winner of 16 Grand Slam singles titles as he converted two breakpoints while showing the same kind of form that helped him lead Serbia to the inaugural ATP Cup title before arriving in Melbourne.
Struff continued to persevere, breaking his opponent three times in the third set, but Djokovic wrested back initiative early in the fourth and closed the match out with the third break of the German’s serve.
French Open champion Barty had won Saturday her first WTA title on home soil at the Adelaide International Saturday and local hopes were high that she might deliver a first Australian champion at the Grand Slam since Chris O’Neil in 1978.
, Barty was brought crashing down to earth in the opening set, however, when Tsurenko, who won their only previous meeting in Brisbane in 2018, comfortably bridged the 119 spots that separate the two in the world rankings.
The Ukrainian, returning after an elbow injury cut short her 2019 season, gave up her own service twice but broke the top seed three times and made the most of Barty’s 19 unforced errors to stun the partisan crowd by taking the first set.
Barty, though, has made much of her ability to adjust to her opponents this season and took control of the contest, levelling up the score with a thumping ace before racing away with the deciding set.
“It’s all good,” she beamed to the relieved Rod Laver Arena crowd after the match. “It’s amazing to be out here. Obviously, a tight turnaround after Adelaide but I sharpened up at the start of the second set and did what I needed to do,” added Barty.
Agencies
