Djokovic overcomes proper challenge from Gakhov in Monte-Carlo

Novak Djokovic had to sweat a little bit against unknown Russian, Ivan Gakhov at the Monte-Carlo Masters but he was able to keep the match in two sets and advance 7-6(2) 6-2.

The Serbian returned to Monte-Carlo hoping to do well this time after his last two trips here were very unfruitful. He faced some heavy opposition from Gakhov early in the match and the Russian actually took the break 4-3 in the first set. He was playing bravely and Djokovic had one of his typical slow starts but he broke back fairly quickly.

After they traded those breaks we ended up in a tiebreak. It was well-contested by both however Djokovic emerged on top 7-5. He served better than Gakhov and generally was a bit more balanced in his approach while the Russian remained aggressive but missed a few balls late which proved crucial.

Boosted by the opening set, Djokovic found more solutions in the second set taking a break first this time around and he applied even more pressure after that. Djokovic found the flaws in the game of Gakhov in the first set and exploited them comfortably in the second set finishing things off 6-2.