11. 11. 2009. ·
Third seed Novak Djokovic reached the third round at the BNP Paribas Masters, beating world no.30 Argentine Juan Monaco 6-3, 7-5 in 1 hour and 32 minutes.
Novak was broken in the opening game of the match, but fought back in the fourth game to level the score. The Serb broke Monaco’s service once again in the eighth game and then closed the set 6-3.
The Belgrade native opened up a 2-0 lead in the second set, but then lost his momentum, made a lot of unforced errors and the Argentine hit back winning five games in a row with two breaks for 5-2. He also had two break/set points in the eighth game, but Djokovic saved them both to stay in the set. Nole found his rhythm and won four more games, breaking Monaco’s service twice, in the ninth and eleventh game to win the set and match 7-5.
Djokovic served 4 aces to Monaco’s 2.
The Serb hit 21 winners to the Argentine’s 9, and made 30 unforced errors, 2 less than his opponent.
Nole capitalised on 5 of his 12 chances for break, while Monaco converted 3 of his 8 break points.
“I didn’t feel that great on the court,” said Novak after the match. “Probably a long week in Basel affected me physically. But I got a victory, and that’s what matters most.”
Djokovic will next face world no.93 Arnaud Clement. The Frenchman defated no.16 seed German Tommy Haas in three sets 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(8). Nole leads their head-to-heads 2-1.
