Novak Djokovic didn’t have things all his own way as he won on his return to the court after his Australian Open triumph.
The Serbian great was given an almighty scare during his first-round match at the ATP Dubai Championships, eventually winning through in three sets 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 against Czech Tomas Machac.
Djokovic – whom this week overtook Steffi Graf’s record for most weeks at World No.1 – was given a taste of what was to come right from his first service game, pushed to win it after seven competitive points. His next service game was much more straightforward though, winning it to love, and he made the early breakthrough in the next Machac service game to lead 3-1. But the talented 22-year-old Machac was here to go toe-to-toe with the world's best player and broke straight back in defiant manner.
Djokovic hasn’t lost in 2023 and has never lost before the quarter-finals in Dubai and finally found some domination when breaking to love and pulled away the first set 6-3 despite not playing his best - only getting half of his first serves into play.
Machac burst out the traps in the second set like a train, playing well beyond his World No. 130 ranking and took the Djokovic service game on his second break point, soundly consolidating to lead 3-0. Amazingly, the man who hadn’t won an ATP main draw match since Indian Wells last March was out Djokovicing Djokovic, spraying the ball around the court and winning the longer rallies.
The youngster – who has been as high as No.97 in the world – did have chances to get the security of a double break against the 22-time Grand Slam champion but those opportunities came and went. And, although faced with a break point when serving to win set two, Machac got through it to level up the match at one set all.
Djokovic was still the favourite going into the decider and those feelings were increased when Machac had a medical stoppage complaining of a right wrist problem. And Djokovic, always the predator, took his moment to strike, breaking Machac shortly after to lead 3-1.
In many ways, this was the perfect match-up for Djokovic after a month away from competitive tennis, made to work hard and bring out some of his best work to win the points. But Machac earned the respect of the all-time great at 4-2 when he played arguably the shot of the year, a sliced volley backhand that dropped dead on the Djokovic side of the net. The Serb applauded his appreciation at the beauty of the play.
But he wasn't applauding moments later when Machac continued to play some swashbuckling tennis to break back and get the third set back on serve. Both players were just going for it this late stage of the match, exchanging cagey service games as the tussle moved into overtime at 5-5.
Djokovic was facing a player playing with a magic wand as opposed to a tennis racket and the Czech held with a bit of flair to move the match into a deciding tiebreak. But it was the qualifier who blinked first, sending a forehand long to hand Djokovic a mini-break. And some powerful groundstrokes and a fist pump later, he was in full control leading 5-1.
That was backed up with a blistering return winner that caught the line and Djokovic put the match away on his first match point with a huge sigh of relief.
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