Djokovic wins but remains in Alcaraz’s hands

Novak Djokovic decided not to attend the Mutua Madrid Open after bad experiences in Monte Carlo and Banja Luka, tournaments where he accumulated as many defeats as victories (2-2), lost to the Italian Lorenzo Musetti and his Serbian compatriots dusan lajovicrespectively.

In addition, he noticed some discomfort in one of his physical weaknesses, his right elbow. Which he continues to protect on this clay court tour with an elbow pad.

He prefers to train specifically at home and continue his journey in one of his favorite territories, the Masters 1000 ATP in Rome, which he has dominated six times. It was like a second home, the country where he took refuge and continued his tennis development fleeing the war when he was young. As well as a perfect springboard for Roland Garroswhich starts in just two weeks.

‘Nole’, 35 years old, says he still lacks competition on clay, but has given himself a new chance in his crown defense in For Italic with his 65th tournament win, advancing to the 32nd round.

Djokovic defeated one of his loyal fans, the Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry, by 7-6 (5) and 6-2 in 1h.51′. The tennis player from La Plata, 23 years old and number 61 ATP, made a name for himself on social networks by comparing his ranking with his Serbian idol when he added his first ATP point, at the age of 16. He wanted to one day compete with her, and he fulfilled that dream. In great dignity because he placed the student of Goran Ivanisevic in an hour and a quarter, the time it took ‘Nole’ to seal a preliminary set in which he accumulated 21 unforced errors, started with a ‘break’ down and had to go up 3-5 in ‘ tiebreak’.

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Using that advantage, Djokovic, who did a lot to drop shots to destabilize his 1.96-tall opponent, combined his options and held off the attacks of an excited Etcheverry.

Djokovic began his farewell to the world number one, which will become a reality this Saturday. As soon as possible Carlos Alcaraz argue a point against Albert Ramostournament debut, the ATP leadership will come from Murcia mathematically, although it will not appear in the list until its new publication, on Monday, May 22, when the Roman event is over.

Djokovic will return to action on Sunday, against Grigor Dimitrov, which he leads 10-1 in the record. The Bulgarian eliminated the Swiss Stan Wawrinka6-4 and 7-6 (3).