Djokovic registers best start after Lendl
World number two Novak Djokovic reached a perfect 25-0 winning record
this season with a second-round victory at the Serbia ATP Open, beating
Romanian qualifier Adrian Ungur on Wednesday.
With his 25th victory Djokovic registered the best start to an ATP
tour season since Ivan Lendl in 1986.
After beating Ungur 6-2, 6-3 in less than 70 minutes on the clay, the
Australian Open victor and local crowd favourite said: “I want to thank
the audience for attending the game in pouring rain.
“The most beautiful thing is to play before a domestic audience.
I lost the service in the fifth game of the first set, but this is my
first match on the claycourt.”
The 23-year-old Djokovic’s quarter-final opponent on Friday will be
Slovenian Blaz Kavcic.
Djokovic said he had lost against Kavcic when he was 14.
“This is my chance for revenge,” Djokovic joked.
At the start of the Serbia Open, Djokovic said was confident he could
pass the supreme claycourt test by beating Rafael Nadal on the
Spaniard’s favourite surface.
Djokovic, who earlier this month was forced to pull out of the Monte
Carlo Masters blaming a knee injury, said he was not burdened by a
record-start to the season. However, the number two said he had an
ambition to win at least one more Grand Slam this year and get himself
involved in fight for the number one position.
Since the start of the season, Djokovic won titles also at the
Australian Open, Dubai and Indian Wells.
He was his country’s key player as he led Serbia to their first-ever
Davis Cup title in Belgrade last December. BELGRADE, AFP |