Novak Djokovic cruised past Hugo Dellien 6-2 6-2 to open his bid for a gold medal at the Olympics.
The world number one’s bid to achieve the golden slam is on after thrashing the Bolivian in humid conditions.
A perfect start for the Serbian who is looking to achieve the one thing he is yet to achieve and that’s win a gold medal.
Next for Djokovic will be Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff.
In 32C temperatures, Djokovic was looking to start his campaign off against Bolivian veteran Hugo Dellien.
The slow paced courts would suit Dellien as he engaged in some long rallies with the world number one early on.
Despite creating three break points in the fourth game, Djokovic would fail to break early on.
However Djokovic increased his level mixing up the pace and depth of his shots to create angles for simple winners.
On his fifth break point Djokovic would break for a 4-2 lead and the top seed would break for a second time as Dellien had no answers for the Serb’s defensive skills. First set to Djokovic in 33 minutes.
A similar pattern evolved in the second set only this time Djokovic did get a break in the fourth game, breaking to love.
Accurate serving and construction of points gave Djokovic an easy first round match as another break secured the match and sealed his spot into the second round.
A fine performance in tough conditions gave Djokovic’s bid for history the best possible start.
Next for Djokovic will be Jan-Lennard Struff who beat Thiago Monteiro 6-3 6-4.
