World No.1 Novak Djokovic was seemingly a bit under the weather as he battled his way past French rising star Corentin Moutet in his opening match at the Paris Masters.
Djokovic, who has won the tournament a record four times, required more than an hour-and-a-half on the court before prevailing 7-6(2), 6-4. Overcoming an early scare, he won 67% of his service points. However, it was a far from perfect performance from Djokovic, who also hit 23 winners to 31 unforced errors.
“I must say that I didn’t feel so great on the court and didn’t play very well.” Djokovic said afterwards. “Especially in the first set, but I somehow managed to win.”
“You have those kind of days. I played an up and coming player from France for the first time. Respect to him, he fought well and was very quick.”
The top seed was in danger early on in the match after dropping serve to fall behind 3-5 in the opener. However, he managed to clay his way back to level and saved two set points in the process. Back in contention, Djokovic then went on to edge out his 20-year-old rival in a first set tiebreak. Continuing to gain momentum, a double break during the opening stages of the second set was enough to help him secure victory.
Speaking afterwards, it appeared as if the 16-time grand slam champion was struggling with a sore throat. He has been feeling unwell over the past couple of days, but is confident that it will not force him out of Paris.
“I’m healthwise not feeling my best. But I actually had quite a few cases where I was already in a tournament and kind of getting better as the days go by.” Djokovic explained during his press conference.
“Of course, it affects your energy, your vitality on the court. Your alertness, attention, endurance, all these different things are affected. Obviously it’s not ideal, but in this kind of circumstances, you just have to accept it and do everything that you can to recover.”
Illness wasn’t the only problem he encountered on Wednesday in the French capital. He was also caught off guard by the court conditions despite previously practising on it earlier in the week.
“The conditions are quite different to my practice days.” He said.
“I’ve practice for two days in a row on the centre court, but it’s quite different. The ball flies through the air more when you plan an official match. I guess it is because of the crowd, it’s a bit more humid.” He added.
The next challenge comes in the form of Kyle Edmund, who has regained some momentum after a dismal past few weeks on the tour. The Brit entered Paris on an eight-match losing streak. However, he ended that run on Tuesday and his latest triumph was over 14th seed Diego Schwartzman. Against the Argentine Edmund won 86% of his first service during the 7-5, 6-3, victory.
“I played him four times and it’s 3-1 to him. We know how each other play and for me I have nothing to lose.” Edmund previewed of his clash with Djokovic.
“He’s the one expected to win. I’m starting to get some momentum now, it’s really good to know what I’ve done well from today and take that into tomorrow’s match.”
Djokovic’s career record at the Paris Masters now stands at 33-8. He was runner-up in the tournament last year.
