Djokovic overcame a slow start to defeat Krajinovic at Erste Bank Open

Tuesday, 27 October 2020 at 17:40

Novak Djokovic overcame a slow start against Filip Krajinovic to reach Erste Bank Open round 2.

Novak Djokovic returned to tennis today at the Erste Bank Open where he played against countrymen Filip Krajinovic. It was a very physical match but Djokovic overcame the slow start to win 7-6(6) 6-3 in two hours of play. It started shaky for Djokovic which is not something unusual as Novak is prone to the occasional slow start. In the first game, he saved two break points. Some 10 minutes later things turned and Djokovic found himself leading 3-1. It didn't last as Krajinovic finally started hitting his shots and he broke Novak to make it 3-3. He continued playing well and he broke Novak once more to take a 4-3 lead. Novak came back strong in the next game forcing two break points but Krajinovic once again hit his shots and saved them.

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Filip played hyper-aggressive and it worked for a while but once he started missing some of the shots Novak took control of the match. He first tied it 5-5 and then in the tiebreak he overcame Krajinovic and his hyper-aggressive play with a smart brand of tennis. Djokovic served very well in this match which allowed him to stay in the match when Filip was hitting his shots. The 2nd set started well for Novak as well as he took an early lead 3-1. He had a chance to make it even larger but Krajinovic saved them to stay in the match.

The match continued with both players playing focused tennis and winning their own service games. Djokovic was very focused and he didn't allow Krajinovic a chance to come back into the match. He tried ending the match several times with another break but Krajinovic held on. In the end Djokovic closed it out with another break winning the set 6-3.