World No.1 Novak Djokovic overcame a late scare to book his place in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open with a 7-5, 7-5, win against Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber.
The Serbian, who came from a set down to defeat Bjorn Frantelo in the previous round, led by a break in both sets being getting broken towards to the business end. In the opening set he has a 4-1 lead before world No.30 Kohlschreiber clawed his way back to level at 4-4. Despite the comeback, Djokovic sealed the set when a backhand shot from his rival went far beyond the baseline.
The first set problems seemed to be over for Djokovic in the second after he broke once against before racing to 5-3, 40-0, to reward him with three match points. Serving for a place in the last sixteen, the top seed unexpectedly faltered as Kohlschreiber won five consecutive points to break back and revive his hopes in the match. The admirable display from the German was still not enough to spoil Djokovic’s party. As his opponent served to stay in the match at 5-6, Djokovic hit a forehand cross court winner to give him his fourth match point, 15 minutes after his first. He clinched the match after a lengthy rally concluded when Kohlschreiber hit a backhand shot into the net.
During his third round 99-minute battle, Djokovic produced 16 winners compared to 23 unforced errors. Reflecting on the match, the top seed saw admitted that he needs to improve in order to prevent a rerun of his third round difficulties.
“I allowed myself twice to lose serve when I was a break up in both sets,” said Djokovic. “Those things cannot happen. I cannot allow myself any more to react that way in those particular circumstances.
“I was fortunate today to manage to win in straight sets. But Kohlschreiber is an experienced player. He has played so many times on the big occasions, so he knows how to capitalize on the opportunities and come back into the match.
“I just put myself in a very difficult position after that. But there are more positive things I can take out of this match today comparing it with the first one.”
Next up for Djokovic will be Feliciano Lopez. He will be hoping for better fortunes in their second meeting of the year after the Serbian retired during their first clash due to eye problems. Lopez booked a showdown with Djokovic after outlasting fellow countryman Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6(5), 6-7(10), 6-4. Following his third round triumph, the Spaniard admitted that he will need to produce something special to stun the formidable world No.1.
“If you wait with Novak, it’s not going to work,” Lopez said.
“When you play those fantastic players, you have to do something extra. If you play the same way as you play every day against other players, you’re probably not going to beat them because they’re better. You need to do something else to beat them”.
Djokovic currently has a 7-1 head-to-head lead over Lopez. His only loss was when he withdrew during their match at the Dubai Tennis Championships due to his eye troubles earlier this year.
