Novak Djokovic continued to struggle with his tennis, but he once again came back to win against a compatriot at the 2022 Serbian Open, taking down Miomir Kecmanovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
The experienced Serbian won a dramatic thriller against Laslo Djere that lasted almost four hours in the previous round. Not even 24 hours later, he faced another compatriot in Kecmanovic, who had been excellent all year long with a 21-7 record on the ATP Tour prior to this match.
They also played last year in Belgrade, with Djokovic winning 6-1, 6-3. This time around, the younger Serbian was better but not good enough. The 34-year-old player once again entered the match rusty, not moving as well as he would like.
That created trouble with him as quite a few of his shots did not hit their intended target. Kecmanovic took an early break, and from there, he mostly concentrated on his own serve.
Djokovic was able to find a rhythm on his serve and win those games, but it was far from impressive. Kecmanovic himself played well enough, but not as well as he usually played this year.
An early break in the second set gave him what he needed, but a bit of a lapse gave Djokovic the break right back. It energized the Serbian legend, who started playing a bit better, dominating his service games, but was unable to create much pressure on return.
Eventually, he did create some pressure, and Kecmanovic couldn't handle it. His confidence has been slowly eroding since he lost the early break, and it culminated towards the end of the set.
Both played well in the final set, but Djokovic was simply a bit better at timing his peak tennis perfectly. It came late in the set, at 3-3, and Djokovic was able to win the final set 6-4 to make the next round.
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