Djokovic beats Djere in Belgrade
\n BELGRADE
\nNovak Djokovic battled back from a set and a break down to beat Laslo Djere in his opening match of the ATP event in Belgrade on Wednesday, avoiding a third consecutive defeat.
\nThe world number one trailed 4-3 in the second set but won a dramatic encounter against his fellow Serb 2-6, 7-6 (8\/6), 7-6 (7\/4) after three hours and 21 minutes.
\nThe 20-time Grand Slam champion is playing in just his third tournament of the season after being deported from Australia before the Australian Open over his Covid vaccination status.
\nDjokovic also missed the Indian Wells and Miami Open events in the United States.
\nAfter a surprise quarter-final exit to unheralded Czech Jiri Vesely in Dubai in February, he returned at the Monte Carlo Masters last week but lost to eventual runner-up Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in his first match.
\n\u201cDjere was the better player today, he controlled the game, attacked, I didn\u2019t feel good about my game, I served badly,\u201d Djokovic told reporters.
\n\u201cBut it\u2019s a positive difference compared to Monte Carlo where I was not able to hold on physically in the third set.\u201d
\nDjokovic had to watch on as long-time rival Rafael Nadal won the Australian Open to clinch a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam singles title, moving him out of a tie with Djokovic and Roger Federer.
\nHe will be hoping to hit back at the French Open, which starts on May 22 and where he is the defending champion after an epic final victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas last year.
\nIt has been a tough start to 2022 for the 34-year-old on and off the court, but he showed all his fighting qualities on Wednesday despite not being at his best.
\nDjokovic will next face another compatriot, Miomir Kecmanovic, in the quarter-finals after his 6-4, 7-6 (7\/5) win over Australian John Millman.
\nThe 50th-ranked Djere raced through the first set against Djokovic before seemingly taking total control of the match with a break in the seventh game of the second.
\nBut Djokovic broke straight back and managed to force a decider, despite needing six set points to eventually win the second set in a tie-break<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Djokovic beats Djere in Belgrade BELGRADE Novak Djokovic battled back from a set and a break down to beat Laslo Djere in his opening match of the ATP event in Belgrade on Wednesday, avoiding a third consecutive defeat. The world number one trailed 4-3 in the second set but won a dramatic encounter against his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256673,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[2563,6224],"class_list":{"0":"post-256657","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-novak-djokovic","9":"tag-serbian-tennis-star"},"yoast_head":"\n