Nole made a winning start to his Rome campaign.
World no.1 Novak Djokovic continued his clay-court season on Friday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, when he defeated Corentin Moutet 6-3, 6-1 to reach the third round in Rome.
The Serbian star dictated play when it mattered most in his second ATP H2H meeting with the French lucky loser, to triumph after 85 minutes.
“Match play is different to practise sets,” Djokovic said. “I played a lefty and I have not practised with a lefty in a while, so it took me a little time to adjust to the different rotations of the ball. Corentin is a very talented player. He has great hands and is very unpredictable. You don’t know what comes up next, so I had to stay focused, which I did and it is a good opening match.”
Match statistics: winners (21-13), unforced errors (13-20), total points won (61-40).
Novak, who has won six titles in Rome, will play no.29 seed Alejandro Tabilo (29) in the third round.
The Chilean eliminated Yannick Hanfmann (GER) in straight sets 6-3, 7-6.
Photo: Profimedia
