"It was a nervous start" says Novak Djokovic on win after Rublev

Novak Djokovic entered the match against Andrey Rublev fairly slow committing a lot of cheap mistakes. The Russian took a 2-0 lead but once Djokovic warmed up it was practically over. Rublev never found composure in this match continuing to play erratic tennis from start to finish. He was a bit better in the 2nd set but he lost it even more convincingly due to the level of Djokovic.

After the match, Novak said:

"I knew that I had to be on my toes and start well. I dropped my serve again like in the first match [against Casper Ruud]. It was quite a nervous start from both of us until 4-3, then with new balls I somehow managed to find the right shots at the right time. I made him play, crucially on the break point at 4-3, when I managed to strike a good passing shot."

Djokovic underlined winning the first set as a crucial thing because it gave him confidence while also putting a lot more pressure on Rublev. Djokovic also served well when he needed to and it proved enough:

"Winning the first set I put additional pressure on him, and I started to maybe play more consistently from the back of the court. I served well [and] that helped tremendously. I wanted to put him out of his comfort zone, taking away the time and mix up the pace. It was a great performance overall.”