Novak Djokovic wins his first match of the season in a rather unconvincing way. The world no.2 was 0-4 down in no time against world no.63 Jan-Lennard Struff to raise many eyebrows in Doha.
Eventually, the seed no.2 found his way back into the match to win 7-6 (1) 6-3, but he won’t have a great memory about this encounter.
I was a bit flat. DJOKOVIC
After the match, Nole commented
“It’s the first match of the year. You never know how you’re going to start. As well as you have trained in the preparation period and the days prior to the tournament, it really is different when it’s competitive play, when you start the official match, and the crowd is there.
It changes things mentally. I was a bit flat on my feet… But I stayed composed because I knew, I believed that I could find the rhythm, start reading his serve better, and that’s what happened. Certainly, I can play better, but it’s the first match of the year. I know that I can’t be at my top the very first match, but I believe that the process is right.”
Next vs. Zeballos
Nole will play Horacio Zeballos in the second round. They have never played each other so far, but at this point, everything is possible.
