Australian Open: Novak Djokovic marches on to set Tsonga clash
The world no. 1 and the six-time Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic has started his campaign with a one-sided 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win over a qualifier Mitchell Krueger who made his debut at Melbourne Park. This was the milestone Grand Slam match number 300 for Novak, securing the 259th win and becoming only the second player after Roger Federer with that many encounters on one of the biggest tennis stages. The 25-year-old American who is currently ranked 230th gave his best to prolong the match as much as possible and he should be happy with the way he fought against world's leading tennis figure, scoring two break points and converting one, also staying on the court for more than two hours.
Serving at 74%, Novak lost just 12 points on serve and he never had to play against break points, mounting all the pressure on the other side of the net. He won almost 50% of the return points to earn no less than 20 break points, converting six to control the result all the time and cruise into the second round. The Serb had 42 winners and just 26 unforced errors, dominating with his deep and aggressive groundstrokes that left Mitchell unarmed. The American scored a surprising break in the third game of the match when Novak netted an easy forehand, playing one of the worst shots from the wing that worked like a charm today in general.
The Serb pulled the break with a return winner in the very next game, holding at love with a service winner a few minutes later to move ahead. Krueger saved a break point in game six to remain on the positive side of the scoreboard but he sprayed a backhand error at 3-4 to give his serve away and allow Djokovic to close the opener with a forehand winner in the next game, moving 6-3 up after 35 minutes. Serving at staggering 83%, Novak dropped just two points on serve in set number two and Mitchell was nowhere near those numbers, getting broken in the very first game after back-to-back backhand down the line winners from Djokovic.
The American lost serve again in game five after a double fault and Novak secured the set with a hold at love in game eight, moving a set away from the triumph in just over 70 minutes. Nothing changed in the third set and Djokovic dominated from start to finish, barely losing a point on serve and rattling off the last five games of the match to sprint into the second round where he faces a much harder test in Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a repeat of the final here from 11 years ago.
First round result:
[1]Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs [Q]Mitchell Krueger (USA) 6-3 6-2 6-2
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2RRzQT2
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