Djokovic too strong for Sinner at the Monte-Carlo Masters

Novak Djokovic started off his Monte-Carlo Masters campaign with a tough match against Jannik Sinner but the reigning world number one was sensational.

It was not the perfect match from Djokovic but his debut on clay in 2021 was very strong. The opponent was difficult, especially for a 2nd round matchup but Djokovic proved too strong. As it often is, Djokovic entered the game slowly allowing Sinner to assert his aggressive play early on. The Italian would break Novak to take a 2-1 lead but as if flipping a switch Djokovic turned it on and pulled it right back.

He never looked back after that going on a 4 game run ending up with a 5-2 lead. After a struggle Sinner won his service game and actually broke Djokovic when the Serb was serving for the first set. Eventually, he could not confirm the break and Novak closed it out with 6-4.

The 2nd set followed a similar pattern but this time around Djokovic was superb on his own serve taking control of the match and taking a 5-2 lead. Djokovic was simply too good defending from the baseline and Sinner could not assert his aggressive playstyle to the fullest. Very often the young Italian would commit an error before he could finish off the point with a winner.

In the end, Djokovic wrapped it up with another break winning the 2nd set 6-2. A very good effort from Djokovic on his 2021 clay season debut against a tricky opponent. For Sinner, this was but a lesson in tennis and one he will need to remember if he wants to become a champion one day.