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Fourth-seeded Novak Djokovic made his way confidently through his first round match at the US Open. He needed just 1 hour and 37 minutes to beat world no.51 Croat Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 on Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday.
Djokovic held comfortably at the beginning of the match to take the lead. A break in the second game was enough for the Serb to take the first set 6-3 in 33 minutes.
World no.4 won the second set 6-1 in just 26 minutes, breaking his opponent’s service three times.
Ljubicic couldn’t find a solution for Novak’s game not even in the third set. The best Serbian tennis player closed it 6-3 after he converted a break point in the eighth game.
Djokovic served 9 aces to Ljubicic’s 10. World no.51 made 4 double faults.
Novak hit 26 winners to his opponent’s 22, and made only 7 unforced errors, 20 less than Ljubicic.
The Serb converted 5 of his 10 break points, while the Croat didn’t have a single chance for break.
Nole’s second round rival will be world no.155 Australian Carsten Ball who defeated world no.188 Argentine Juan Pablo Brzezicki in straight sets. Novak has never played against Ball.
