Novak Djokovic has praised his latest opponent at the Adelaide International after coming through two closely contested sets.
The 21-time Grand Slam champion ousted world No.64 Quentin Halys 7-6(3), 7-6(5), in a match which saw him rally back from a 2-5 deficit in the opening set. During the second frame, Djokovic failed to convert two match points whilst leading 5-4 but held his nerve to prevail in the tiebreaker. Overall, he hit 10 aces and won 88% of his first service points.
After recording his latest win, the former world No.1 described the tennis produced by Halys as similar to a top-10 player. The 26-year-old Frenchman is currently at a ranking-high but is yet to win a title on the ATP Tour. He has only ever won three main draw matches in Grand Slam tournaments.
“It was a great performance from my opponent today. I want to congratulate him for great quality tennis and a great fight … he played like a top 10-player today, no doubt,” Djokovic said.
“As far as my game goes, I feel good on the court. I didn’t have such a great start. I lost my serve early, and he was serving really well – fast, big serves, hitting his spots in the box very well.
“It’s difficult to play on this kind of court that is really fast. It kind of favours the server. It’s tough to break the serve of a big server like him today, so two tiebreaks were probably the most realistic score of today’s match, and I’m just glad to overcome a tough challenge.”
Awaiting Djokovic in the next round will be Canada’s Denis Shapovalov who defeated Russian qualifier Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-2, in his second round match. He currently leads the Canadian 7-0 in their head-to-head and has only ever lost three sets against him.
Despite Shapovalov’s losing record against Djokovic, he is maintaining a confident outlook heading into their latest clash.
“Last year we started with winning the ATP Cup and finished it off with winning the Davis Cup, so definitely the team events were a good success for me last year,” Shapovalov said. “I’m definitely trying to implement that on the individual side as well, and so far it’s been a great start.”
Djokovic has only ever won one other event on Australian soil outside of the Grand Slam. That was at the 2007 Australian Hard Court Championships.
Also through to the lost eight is Sebastian Korda who fired 12 aces during his 6-4, 6-4, win over Spanish veteran Roberto Bautista Agut. In his opening match, the American knocked out three-time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray in straight sets.
