Novak Djokovic might have played down expectations ahead for the 2024 Monte-Carlo Masters, but he certainly played the first match as seriously as possible.
Roman Safiullin is a player who can challenge the best on any surface, as he proved multiple times in the past. However, he couldn't do much in the second-round match at the season's first clay-court ATP Masters 1000 tournament.
Djokovic, on the other hand, cruised through the match as confident as ever. It was a much-needed sigh for his fans, who certainly didn't enjoy a lot of what happened in recent weeks.
The recent split with Goran Ivanisevic brought uncertainty to his team, which nobody wanted to see, as some had already raised concerns about his level this year. However, Djokovic had very few worries in the opening set, as he opened with an early break and then added another one, which certainly calmed the nerves.
From there, it was rather simple to finish things off in the first set, in which he played at a very high level, winning 6-1. He admitted before the event that he didn't have any expectations, but his first match looked almost flawless.
The second set nearly opened with another early break, but this time around, the Russian was able to postpone it a little bit. It didn't last too long because Djokovic stepped up rather quickly and broke Safiullin for the 3-1 lead and then held his serve for the 4-1 lead.
Djokovic was dominant during most of the match, hitting a lot of winners without committing too many errors. It was the opposite for Safiullin, who tried to be very aggressive but overhit far too many times to really be competitive in the match.
Djokovic won the second set 6-2 to win the match 6-1, 6-2, in what was a much-needed statement win for the Serbian, who will hopefully breathe a bit easier after this one.
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