Novak Djokovic is looking ever closer to his peak, having delivered another solid performance at the 2022 Madrid Open and a straight-sets win over Hubert Hurkacz.
Although the Polish player is not an excellent clay-court player, he made it to the quarter-finals of the ATP Masters 1000 event on red dirt, which proves that he can play well on the surface.
However, in this match, Djokovic did not need to exert too much energy, simply playing very balanced and smart tennis against an opponent who seemed to be quite nervous for this match.
The key for Hurakcz in this matchup was the serve, but in Madrid, even with the high-altitude conditions helping him, he couldn't deliver his best serving performance against the Serbian.
He hit only 57% of his first serves in the opening set, and that was a problem. It gave Djokovic a lot of chances on his second serve, and the 20-time major winner won over 50% of those points.
On his own serve, Djokovic was superb, never allowing Hurkacz anywhere close to a break point. On the other hand, he converted the only he had, which was more than enough to win the opening set 6-3.
Hurkacz improved his serving percentage in the second set but he was still unable to win points on his second serve. He gave Djokovic a break point, and the Serbian took it for the early lead.
The 34-year-old was simply clinical when he got the chance and knew how to exploit it. Hurkacz did not play smart tennis at all, frequently choosing the wrong solution.
It was a bad performance overall from Hurkacz, who can do much, much better than this. Obviously, on clay, it's difficult for him, but it was a good win for Djokovic, who triumphed easily 6-3, 6-4 ahead of the semifinal match against the winner of an exciting clash between Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal.
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