Top seed Novak Djokovic made a winning start in his bid to capture the Career Golden Masters in Cincinnati.
The Serb battled past world no.31 Gilles Simon of France 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 on Tuesday evening in the second round of the Western & Southern Open.
The 27-year-old Belgrade native, a quarter-finalist (l. to Isner) last year, sealed the victory after two hours and 10 minutes of play.
Novak rallied from a break down in the opening set to take it 6-3 in 29 minutes.
He was 4-2 up in the second set, but surrendered four games in a row, letting the Frenchman come back into the match.
Nole failed to convert six break points in the first game of the deciding third set. He managed to capitalise on his chance in the seventh game and saved a break point before winning the clash three games later, improving to a 39-5 W/L record on the season.
“I think I did well for the most of the match,” Djokovic said. “End of the second, start of the third wasn’t that great, but I try to take positives from every match. I know I’m not playing at the level yet where I want to be and it’s obvious, but I keep on pushing myself. Every day is a new challenge to try to look out for a better game tomorrow and after tomorrow, and hopefully it’s going to come.”
“It was working quite well, then suddenly I started making unforced errors, backed up a little bit and he started dominating the rallies. Then it was a pretty even third set up to the end. But again, it’s a fight. I’m just glad I managed to win this one.”
Match statistics: aces (6-5), double faults (3-2), winners (32-19), unforced errors (39-27), total points won (88-86).
Djokovic is making his 10th straight tournament appearance. A title here would make him the first man to ever win all nine Masters 1000 trophies over the course of a career.
The world no.1 is also chasing his 20th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophy and fifth title of the season. He has finished runner-up in Cincinnati four of the past six years and has a 22-9 tournament record.
Novak next faces no.16 seed Tommy Robredo who eliminated Sam Querrey. He has a 6-1 career H2H record with the Spaniard.
Photo: Getty Images
