Novak Djokovic won his second-round match at the 2023 Italian Open in Rome but fans are worried because of injury woes.
The Serb took on Tomas Martin Etcheverry from Argentina and after a slow start, he won 7-6(5), 6-2, and he had a reason to be satisfied with his performance, especially after the second set which was quite dominant from his side.
After the match, Djokovic talked about how his first ATP 1000 match after some time was difficult due to not playing many matches recently. The 22-time Grand Slam champion also acknowledged that the first set was not ideal as he picked up the pace in the second.
"I thought I played well in the second set. I closed out the match really well. First set I had a slow start. Kind of a story of my clay court season so far. I have really slow starts. I haven't had too many matches and too many wins on this surface. Still finding the groove. Won against a really solid player, someone that is a specialist for clay. He's up-and-coming young player."
The 35-year-old also discussed how it differs to play someone for the first time, rather than someone like his third-round opponent Grigor Dimitrov, who he met many times before on the ATP Tour.
"Obviously always tricky to play somebody first time. Particularly at the beginning of the match you need to feel his pace of the ball, spin, how he moves. It's different watching him play in a video, trying to get yourself ready tactically for that, then of course for the match, coming into the court and actually playing."
"But I was pleased the way I fought. I think the first set went 1:15, very long exchanges. It was good quality tennis. I'm pleased with the win."
But the question that everyone wanted to know the answer to was the Serb's injury. He put on an elbow sleeve after the first game of the match and for everyone, it was a worrying sign. However, after the match, Djokovic calmed injury talks, saying it was just because of the temperature.
"It was quite cold. I was not playing with it these days. 17, 18 degrees, felt really cold. Sometimes that affects the way I feel with my elbow and everything. I just wanted to put the sleeve to feel that it's warmed up, I guess, that it feels more comfortable for me."
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