MONTE CARLO – World No. 1 Novak Djokovic said that his clinical win over Roman Safiullin was one of his best performances at the Monte Carlo Masters, adding that he was feeling great at the outset of a tournament where he has often struggled in recent years.
On April 9, the Serb made an emphatic start with a 6-1, 6-2 win over the Russian to ease into the third round, where he will face Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti on April 11.
The 36-year-old has won the Monte Carlo crown twice, but has failed to win more than two matches in any campaign since his last title in 2015.
“My feeling was great. I think it’s an accurate judgment from the people that it’s been one of the best performances I had here in quite a few years,” the 24-time Grand Slam champion told reporters.
“Monte Carlo is the first big tournament of the clay-court season. I haven’t been really able the last six, seven years to start off strong and start off well. I’ve always kind of struggled in this tournament.
“But again, it’s just the beginning of the tournament. It’s one match. I’m going to hope to work tomorrow to maintain that rhythm and focus, obviously try to perform as well as I did in the second match as well as I did today.”
Djokovic, who pulled out of the recent Miami Open as he tries to balance his schedule, looked fresh as he broke Safiullin’s serve three times in the opening set and a further two breaks in the second was enough to seal the win.
On April 10, Italian world No. 2 Jannik Sinner, the Australian Open champion, easily beat American Sebastian Korda 6-1, 6-2 to enter the round of 16.
Earlier on April 7, Djokovic overtook Roger Federer as the oldest top-ranked singles player in ATP rankings history, at 36 years and 321 days.
“I met (Rohan) Bopanna yesterday, who is the oldest doubles No. 1 in history. He said we had a combined age of 80, but he does contribute to the 80 more than I do,” Djokovic joked.
In another match, German fifth seed Alexander Zverev made light work of his second-round match, defeating Austrian Sebastian Ofner 6-3, 6-4. REUTERS
