Novak Djokovic admits that he was made to work during his second round win at the Japan Open on Wednesday.
The 16-time grand slam champion overcame a late-match blip to see off home player Go Soeda 6-3, 7-5, at the Ariake Coliseum. The same venue which will host the 2020 Olympic tennis tournament. Breaking twice in the opening set, Djokovic wasn’t placed under pressure until the business end of the match. Leading proceedings 6-3, 5-3, a lacklustre service game revived Soeda’s chances as he fought back to draw level. Saving three match points in the process. Despite the lapse, Djokovic soon regained his focus and momentum by claiming eight points in a row to seal victory.
“[He] made me work for my win today and the atmosphere was really good on the court,” Djokovic said.
“I think I played a pretty good tennis match. From the baseline, I was solid, aggressive when I needed to be and taking the ball early. I served very well until that game when I was serving for the match at 5-3. I made some double faults, I missed all my first serves, so I didn’t serve that well that game, allowing him to break back and come back to the match,” he added.
Playing in only his second match since withdrawing from the US Open due to a shoulder injury, Djokovic hit 25 winners to 18 unforced errors. Recording his 43rd win of 2019 and moving into the quarter-finals of an ATP tournament for the 9th time this season. The win follows up on his victory over Australia’s Alexi Popryin in the opening round on Tuesday.
“I think I played a pretty good tennis match.” Djokovic evaluated about his latest victory.
“From the baseline, I was solid, aggressive when I needed to be and taking the ball early. I served very well until that game when I was serving for the match at 5-3. I made some double faults, I missed all my first serves, so I didn’t serve that well that game, allowing him to break back and come back to the match.”
Djokovic will next take on world No.24 Lucas Pouille. The Frenchman experienced an easier match on Wednesday with a clinical 6-1, 6-2, win over Yoshihito Nishioka.
This week Djokovic is bidding to win the Japan Open on his main draw debut. Something he has already achieved at nine other tournaments with the most recent taking place in Eastbourne back in 2017.
Mixed fortunes for rivals
Elsewhere at the tournament, eighth seed Alex de Minaur saw his recent winning streak on the tour come to an end. The Australian, who won the Zhuhai Championships last week, was edged out in three sets by South Africa’s Lloyd Harris. De Minaur saw two match points come and go in the decisive tiebreaker before being edged out 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-6(8), after more than three hours of play. Harris will play another Australian, John Millman, next.
There was better news for third seed David Goffin, who won the tournament back in 2017. The Belgian was given a stern scare during his roller-coaster 1-6, 7-6(8), 6-0, win over Pablo Carreno-Busta.
“It was not easy. [It was a] tough first set, he was playing very good and had a lot of confidence going in. He didn’t miss a ball, and it was tough to find a rhythm,” Goffin told atptour.com. “He’s such a great player, great fighter and he was serving well. He was doing everything well in the first. So I had to just fight, wait a little bit, try to find my timing, my groundstrokes. It came a little bit, I served a little bit better at the end of the second and in the third.”
Next up for Goffin will be Canada’s Denis Shapovalov. Both de Minaur and Goffin was playing in their first round matches.
After three days of play, four out of the eight seeded players are remaining in this year’s draw.
