The highest seed Novak Djokovic made a successful begin to the season in Brisbane. The 24-time Main winner defeated Rinky Hijikata 6-3, 6-3 within the first spherical of the ATP 250 occasion. The legend sealed the deal in an hour and 14 minutes, controlling the scoreboard and crusing excessive.
It was Novak’s first Brisbane Worldwide match since 2009. The Serb outplayed the house star on serve and return. Djokovic dropped ten factors in 9 service video games, dealing with no break factors and preserving the strain on the opposite facet.
Hijikata couldn’t comply with that tempo. The lower-ranked participant dropped 44% of the factors in his video games and suffered three breaks from 5 probabilities offered to the legend. It was Novak’s first official match because the Shanghai Masters last, and he was happy along with his degree.
The Serb’s serve labored like a allure, and he took the higher hand from the baseline in a rock-solid victory. Novak made a dependable begin. He fired a backhand down the road winner within the first recreation for a maintain at love and clinched a break within the subsequent one for 2-0.
They served nicely within the upcoming video games, with Hikijata following Djokovic’s tempo. Novak served for the opener at 5-3 and fired two highly effective serves at a deuce for 6-3 in 39 minutes. They stayed neck and neck within the opening six video games of the second set, locking the end result at 3-3.
Djokovic made a push on the return in recreation seven and secured a break that despatched him in entrance. The 24-time Main winner sealed the cope with one other return recreation on his tally at 5-3, making a successful begin and reaching the second spherical.
Novak will face his previous pal Gael Monfils within the second spherical.
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