After his victory in the opening match of the Monte-Carlo Masters on Tuesday, Novak Djokovic had a great time. Mercedes Formula 1 star George Russell was watching the world No.1’s game from the stands when they passed each other. Russell quickly inquired about the Serbian’s impression of the fight with Ivan Gakhov. “It was good. It’s a good start, but it could always be better,” Djokovic replied according to the ATP official website. improve, improve yourself.”
“What I find so difficult for you is especially when you play second, third or fourth, you never know the timings,” Russell told Djokovic.
“It’s tough and today I waited maybe an hour and a half or two hours longer than I expected. So you’re like, ‘Should I warm up or cool down’ and that makes you a bit anxious,” Djokovic said.
“We have Azerbaijan is next. We just got back from Melbourne,” Russell said.
“How long does it take you to get used to the time change?” asked Djokovic.
“The Melbourne Killer. It probably took a week to come back,” replied the Briton.
Read more – Monte-Carlo Masters 2023: Novak Djokovic makes his victorious debut in Monaco
“We actually have a few weeks off, Azerbaijan, and then the season really kicks off,” Russell continued.
“So Monte-Carlo after that?” asked Djokovic.
“Miami then Monte Carlo,” Russell said.
“They don’t really keep you on the continents, do they?” Djokovic added. “They kind of take you around the world.”
Novak Djokovic wins in Monte Carlo
Tuesday at the Monte-Carlo Masters, Novak Djokovic returned to the game successfully. The world No. 1 was in danger of losing the opening set after a fierce challenge from world No. 198 Ivan Gakhov. However, Djokovic handled pressure situations expertly to advance with a 7-6(5), 6-2 win. Gakhov entered the qualifying field as the fourth alternate and used the opportunity to enter the main draw and win his first ATP Tour match to advance to the second round. Unlike Gakhov, who was playing his third game at tour level, Djokovic was playing his 1,254th game, and that experience paid off in crucial situations.
“It was probably, if you can call it that, an ugly tennis win for me today,” Djokovic said during his on-court interview. “I didn’t play my best, especially in the first set. And I kind of expected that to happen in a way with swirling conditions, lots of wind today, changing directions. It’s different from training and then playing an official match on clay, [where] I guess no two bounces are the same. It’s always quite unpredictable what will happen. But overall, I’m just happy with how I kept my nerves, I think, in the important moments and managed to get the win in straight sets.
“I’ve never seen Ivan play before today to be honest. I saw a bit of his video from the game yesterday and that’s it,” Djokovic said of his opponent of the day. wasn’t the best preparation, but he’s a young player coming off the Challenger Tour and he was just on a roll.”