World primary Novak Djokovic started his quest for a fourth Madrid Open title with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Gael Monfils on Tuesday, bettering his unbeaten document to 18-0 in opposition to the Frenchman.
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The outcome ensures Djokovic stays on the high of the rankings whereas it earned Monfils the ignominious document of getting the worst document in opposition to a single opponent with out profitable within the Open period.
Djokovic first performed Monfils on the U.S. Open in 2005 however Tuesday’s match was solely their second encounter on clay and he wanted just one breakpoint to clinch the primary set.
Though Monfils fired extra winners, he made issues simpler for the Serbian with a number of unforced errors as he tried dangerous pictures that didn’t repay.
Monfils did entertain the group with a couple of pictures worthy of the highlights reel, together with a ’tweener’ that had even Djokovic applauding together with the followers.
However the high seed was properly in command of proceedings, breaking twice within the second set earlier than serving for the match to advance to the third spherical the place he’ll meet both Andy Murray or Denis Shapovalov.
Earlier, Andrey Rublev, who gained the Serbia Open final month after beating Djokovic within the ultimate, survived an early scare when he fought again from a set right down to edge Britain’s 20-year-old Jack Draper 2-6 6-4 7-5.
Rublev discovered himself 3-0 down within the decider however Draper suffered from a cramp which allowed the Russian to rally and win the competition to maneuver into the last-16.
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