MADRID, 3 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic, number one in the world, made his firm debut this Tuesday at the Mutua Madrid Open, the fourth Masters 1,000 of the season and which is played on clay, and advanced to the third round after beating Frenchman Gael Monfils by 6 -3, 6-2 in less than an hour and a half.
‘Nole’, triple winner at the Caja Mágica and first seeded, debuted in the capital in his ninth game this season marked by his absence from many tournaments due to coronavirus restrictions and left a feeling of continuing to improve his tennis.
Already a finalist in his native Belgrade a few weeks ago, the winner of 20 Grand Slams was faithful to his tradition against Monfils, a player who had never defeated him in their previous 17 matches and who continued without doing so in a match that was played practically in its entirety with the Manolo Santana roofed by the irruption of the rain.
Djokovic always took the initiative on the scoreboard and his main troubles came in the opening stages of the first round, where he had to save three break balls, including a dangerous 15-40. But when the conditions changed he seemed to feel more comfortable and found the ‘break’ in the sixth game that he knew how to make the most of it to win the first set.
The advantage established him even more on the red clay, especially with his service, with which he barely gave concessions to the Parisian, who left some high-quality points that earned an ovation from Manolo Santana, but who could not avoid giving up two serves to give way to his rival, who awaits the winner of the Andy Murray-Denis Shapovalov and who also received the affection of the Madrid fans.
BAUTISTA AHEAD, KECMANOVIC, NADAL’S FIRST RIVAL
On the other hand, as for the Spaniards who entered the fray this Tuesday, Roberto Bautista from Castellón, seeded seventeenth, surpassed his first match by clearly defeating the American Jenson Brooksby in two sets 6-0, 6-2.
It so happens that the man from Castellón had played his last game before Madrid against this young rival, who defeated him in the Masters 1000 in Miami 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in a game in which the Spanish had 4-0 in the third set. The British Dan Evans will be his next opponent.
On the other hand, Albert Ramos was not so lucky, who came with a good rhythm on red clay after being a semi-finalist in Estoril (Portugal) last week, but could not beat Croatian veteran Marin Cilic who won in three sets 6-3 , 3-6, 6-4 despite the fact that the Barcelonan was up 4-2 in the final set.
In addition, Rafa Nadal already knows his first rival in his career at the Caja Mágica, which will be Miomir Kecmanovic, number 32 in the ATP and who is at a good level. The Serbian defeated Kazakh Alexander Bublik, a quarterfinalist last year, in two sets (6-4, 7-5).