ATP Belgrade 2: Novak Djokovic loses set against world No. 119 and produces a bagel

Winning the previous Serbia Open title in 2011, world no. 1 Novak Djokovic will battle for the title in front of the home fans on Saturday following a 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 triumph over Andrej Martin. A qualifier played well in the second set and kept the world's leading player on the court for almost two hours, losing ground in the decider to propel Novak into the title clash against another qualifier Alex Molcan or the 8th seed Federico Delbonis. Djokovic played against ten break chances and lost serve thrice in set number two to keep the rival in contention. On the other hand, the Serb grabbed 56% of the return points and earned seven breaks from 11 opportunities that carried him over the top. Djokovic closed the opening game with a service winner and clinched a break a few minutes later following Martin's double fault.

Novak Djokovic will play in his 199th ATP title at home in Belgrade.

Hitting well from both wings, Novak secured the third game with a forehand down the line winner and moved 4-1 ahead with a hold at love to control the scoreboard. The Slovak sprayed a forehand error in the sixth game to suffer a break and find himself 5-1 down before Djokovic fended off five break chances in the next one for 6-1 in just under 40 minutes. Martin broke Djokovic in the second set's second game when the Serb sprayed a forehand error and stayed ahead only for a couple of minutes, as Novak broke back to reduce the deficit.

Novak scored another break in game seven, but instead of bringing the victory home, he lost ground and gave away three straight games. Out of a sudden, Djokovic sent a forehand long in the eighth game to suffer a break and destroy his racquet in anger. Martin won the ninth game and secured the second straight break at 5-4 after Djokovic's forehand error to steal the set. Starting all over, Novak broke Andrej in the final set's first game and held at 30 to establish the advantage. Djokovic converted the third break chance in the third game and raced 4-0 ahead with a service winner in the next one. The Slovak got broken at love after a double fault in game five, and the Serb moved over the top with a forehand winner in game six, earning his 100th bagel in the ATP matches.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3fqVI2G