Reuters
Paris, Nov 4: World No.1 Novak Djokovic was given a decent workout by Thomaz Bellucci as he opened his Paris Masters campaign with a 7-5, 6-3 second round win, late Tuesday evening. In matches played early Wednesday, World No. 5 Kei Nishikori survived a huge scare before winning against local talent Jeremy Chardy 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (6-8), 6-1 while No. 15 Grigor Dimitrov emerged a 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-5) winner over Marin Cilic.
Djokovic, bidding to win the Paris indoor title for an unprecedented third time in a row, broke to love in the last game of the opening set, playing tighter when it mattered. He broke again in the eighth game of the second set as Bellucci sent a forehand long and closed out the match on serve to snatch his fifth win against Bellucci in as many encounters.
“The last match I played indoors was last year in London. So that’s why it’s always tricky to start out well,” Djokovic told a news conference. “I have had a few things that I could have done better tonight (Tuesday). But again, all in all, it was a very solid match.
Earlier, Stan Wawrinka started his Paris Masters challenge with a 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) win over Australian Bernard Tomic after surviving a blip in the tie-break to reach the third round.
The World No. 4 from Switzerland trailed 5-2 in the tie-break but raised his game to close out the match in straight sets at a renovated Bercy Hall. “I was not in a good position, that’s for sure,” said Wawrinka, who is bidding to become the first player to win the French Open and Paris Masters in the same year since Andre Agassi in 1999.
In late night matches both Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal scored easy wins. Nadal breezed past Lukas Rosol two and two while Murray trounced Borna Coric 6-2, 6-1.