Serbian Novak Djokovic, ranked number one in the world, easily won in his first match since his elimination from the third round of the Indian Wells tournament, over Russian Roman Saviolin 6-1, 6-2, on Tuesday in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 Points Tennis Tournament.
The second day witnessed the withdrawal of Spaniard Carlos Alcarras, third in the world, due to an injury to his arm, according to what was announced on social media.
In his second confrontation with Saviolin, Djokovic had no difficulty booking his ticket to the third round at the beginning of his season on clay courts, ending the match with the 26-year-old Russian, ranked 41 in the world, in an hour and 10 minutes.
The winner of 24 major tournament titles was playing his first match since his surprise loss on March 11 to Italian Luca Nardi in the third round of the Indian Wells tournament, the first thousand-point Masters tournament of the season.
The 36-year-old then decided to withdraw from the Miami Masters tournament because “at this stage of my career, I am trying to achieve a balance between my personal and professional calendar.” I am sorry that I will not be able to experience the feeling of being among the best and most passionate fans in the world,” he said at the time.
The start of the season was not successful, as after losing in the quarter-finals of the United Cup to Australian Alex de Minaur, the Serbian’s campaign in the Australian Open ended in the semi-finals at the hands of Italian Jannik Sinner, before he was eliminated from Indian Wells.
But on Tuesday, he made a good start in Monte Carlo, where he won the title in 2013 and 2015, and did not go further than the third round in his last three appearances, by achieving his second victory over Saviolin out of two meetings with the Russian (he beat him in October 2022 in the semi-finals of the Tel Aviv tournament).
Djokovic was “very satisfied,” referring to his defeats this year by saying, “Even the matches I lost in which I had the opportunity to break the serve.” “It’s really a great first match at the start of the clay season.”
He continued, “The situation was similar last year as well (in Monte Carlo). I started well in this tournament and then lost in my second match, so I hope to maintain the momentum.”
The Serbian hit hard from the start, leading 4-0 after breaking his opponent’s serve in the first and third games, then he repeated the matter in the seventh game, deciding it 6-1 in 33 minutes.
Then he came back and broke the Russian’s serve in the fourth game of the second set, to lead 3-1, 5-2, and then 6-1 on his opponent’s serve.
In the third round, Djokovic will meet Italian Lorenzo Mozzetti or Frenchman Artur Wiess.
Before Djokovic entered the field to begin his tournament career after he was exempted from the first round, like the other top seven seeds, Alcarras announced his withdrawal and was replaced by Italian Lorenzo Sonego.
The 20-year-old wrote on the “X” platform: “I was working in Monte Carlo until the last minute in an attempt to recover from an injury to the pronator teres muscle (pronator teres) in my right arm, but that was not possible and I cannot play!”
The former world number one was scheduled to face Belgian Felix Auger-Aliassime on Wednesday in the second round.
The holder of two major tournament titles has not yet succeeded in winning any match in the Monte Carlo tournament on clay courts.
He arrived exhausted in his first participation in 2022, after reaching the semi-finals in Indian Wells and being crowned champion in Miami in the United States, losing in the opening match to American Sebastian Korda.
Last year, he also withdrew before the start of the session.
The withdrawal of the player, who was exhausted by injuries last year, seemed expected, given his difficulty hitting the ball in recent days during training with his Spanish coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Excited by winning his first title on clay courts with his victory on Sunday over Spaniard Pedro Martinez in the final of the Estoril tournament, Polish tenth Herbert Hurkacz reached the second round with a difficult victory over British Jack Draper 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2).