Novak Djokovic storms over Kwon for winning start at Serbia Open

Wednesday, 21 April 2021 at 17:51

Competing in front of the home fans for the first time in a decade in an ATP tournament, world no. 1 and a two-time Serbia Open champion Novak Djokovic took down Soonwoo Kwon 6-1, 6-3.

Novak played well in his first match since the Monte Carlo loss to Daniel Evans, dominating both serve and return and leaving the young Korean behind to enter the last eight. An 18-time Major champion dropped serve once while serving for the win, kept the rival away from break chances and tamed his serve to control the scoreboard with five breaks on his tally.

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Novak lost only three points behind the initial shot in the opening set, mounting the pressure on the other side and delivering two early breaks for a comfortable 6-1 in no time. Kwon netted an easy backhand in game two to suffer a break and wasted a game point at 0-3 to experience another setback and push Novak 4-0 in front. The home favorite held at love in the fifth game and produced another commanding hold at 5-1 to grab the opener in style. The Korean secured the second set's first game with a service winner before Novak broke him at 1-1 with a running backhand winner at the net that sent him ahead.

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The crowd favorite confirmed the advantage with an unreturned serve in game four and earned the second straight break to forge a 4-1 advantage and move closer to the finish line. Serving to stay in the match, Soonwoo held with an ace down the T line in game seven to prolong the action, creating his first break chances in game eight and converting the first when Novak sprayed a forehand error. Leaving that loose game behind him, Djokovic secured his fifth break at 5-3 to move over the top after 68 minutes.

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2009 🏆 2011 🏆 2021 ❓ @DjokerNole takes the first step towards a third Belgrade title 👏 The World No.1 defeats Kwon 6-1 6-3 to move into R3 against Kecmanovic. 🇷🇸 @SerbiaOpen2021