Wearing an elbow brace he made a slow start, dropping his serve in the first game and struggling to deal with the Argentine's powerful shots. I guess that's what happened, it's kind of cat-and-mouse always on clay."ĭjokovic, 35, has made 12 finals in Rome and said Thursday that he was feeling good ahead of the tournament despite missing last week's Madrid Masters. "Most of the times I guess you're not, but you want to show your opponent that you're out there trying to fight for every ball. "You act like you're 100 percent," Djokovic said. Rome has always been a tournament that I need for Roland Garros," said Djokovic who was plagued by 21 unforced errors in the opener.ĭjokovic appeared unwell at 5-5 in the first set and took a tablet in the changeover. "I've said before that this surface requires more time for me than maybe for other players to get myself to a good level, move well and hit the ball well. Still nursing an injury to his right elbow, he had to battle his way past Etcheverry, winning the first set via a tie-break before finally ensuring passage into the next round. (AFP)Ī six-time winner in Rome, the world number one was made to work by the 61st-ranked Argentine, prevailing in one hour, 51 minutes to set up a third-round clash with Grigor Dimitrov who beat Stan Wawrinka.ĭjokovic, a 22-time Grand Slam title winner, has not been knocked out of an ATP Tour event at the first attempt since the Monte Carlo Masters last year. ![]() ![]() ![]() Serbia's Novak Djokovic returns to Argentina's Tomas Etcheverry during their second-round match at the Men's ATP Rome Open tennis tournament on May 12, at Foro Italico in Rome. ROME (AFP) - Novak Djokovic fought his way into the third round of the Italian Open on Friday, May 12, beating Tomas Etcheverry 7-5 (7/6), 6-2 in a surprisingly tight encounter.
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