Former world No.1 Novak Djokovic admits that he needs to improve his game following a tough win over Steve Johnson at the Western and Southern Open.
Djokovic required just over two hours to see off his American rival 6-4, 7-6(4). Despite leading the match by a set and 3-0, a spirited Johnson comeback forced him to dig deeper in the match. Djokovic had seven match point chances, but failed to convert all of them as the set went into a tiebreaker. A further opportunity came and went before he prevailed on his ninth attempt with the help of a forehand winner.
“I’m not really satisfied with my performance,” Djokovic said during an interview with atpworldtour.com.
“I played well in parts of the match but should have done better.
“On a brighter side, I managed to stay calm and focused and play some really good points in the tie break.
“I’ve been trying [to win the title] quite a few years, but conditions are quite a bit different.
“Hopefully I’ll make improvements each day and get to the level I want to be at later this week.”
The roller coaster performance saw the Serbian hit 28 winners to 27 unforced errors, compared to Johnson’s tally of 21 and 33. On the other hand, Djokovic only managed to convert three out of his 12 break point opportunities.
Cincinnati is the only Masters title missing from Djokovic’s trophy collection. He has had to settle for runner-up on five previous occasions with the most recent being back in 2015. The year he last played at the tournament. Should he end his drought this week, Djokovic would become the first player in the Open Era to win all nine Masters 1000 title at least once.
“It would be nice. I have been trying for quite a few years, but I haven’t played here for three years.” Said Djokovic.
“The conditions are quite different, but hopefully I’ll make an improvement a little each day and get to the level where I want to be later this week.”
In the second round Djokovic will take on France’s Adrian Mannarino. The world No.28 battled past French Open semifinalist Marco Cecchinato 6-7(7), 6-2, 7-6(7), in his first round match.
“Obviously it takes a little bit of time now to get used to the hard courts and get to that top level of performance,” Djokovic said ahead of his next match. “I don’t think I’m there yet, but hopefully I can get as many matches this week as possible. This has been the tournament that I have never won out of all the Masters events, and I have been trying. I have another shot. We’ll see.”
In their head-to-head, Djokovic has a winning 3-0 record against Mannarino. The upcoming clash will be their first meeting on a hard court.
