Novak Djokovic scrambles Potito Starace in the opening round – French Open 2012
World number one, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, began the quest for his first French Open title in style, as he brushed aside Italy’s Potito Starace in straight sets 7-6(3), 6-3, 6-1 in the first round at the French Open in Paris,
France on Monday.
Djokovic and Starace put on a tremendous serving display in the first set, as they did not drop their serve even once, taking the score to 6-6 and forcing a tie-breaker. The Serbian grabbed a 4-2 lead and made the most of it to
triumph 7-6(3).
The 25-year-old banged in a couple of aces and kept his first serve percentage at 73, sealing 23 of the 29 points on them. He pocketed many points with the help of his fine volleys, as he went at the net on 13 points and won nine
of them in the opener.
In the second set, Djokovic and Starace held their serve in the first four games to level the score at 2-2. The Serbian snatched a break in the fifth and consolidated on it to go up 4-2. Starace managed to win only one point when
he served to stay in the set and 3-5 and lost it 3-6.
Djokovic did remarkably well on the serves in the second set, as he fired three aces and did not commit any double fault. He maintained a first delivery percentage of 82 and converted amazingly 13 of the 14 of them into points.
The Serbian’s ground strokes were near flawless, hitting incredibly 14 winners and committing just two unforced errors.
After getting two sets to love lead, Djokovic thrashed the Italian in the decider. He allowed Starace to win only one game, breaking him twice and winning all of his own serves to seal it 6-1.
The Serbian said, talking to the reporters after the match, “I didn’t expect an easy match, that’s for sure. He is a specialist on clay. I have seen him in the past couple of years. He gave a lot of trouble to the top players on
this surface. I tried to be aggressive on the court and take my chances. When I look at it now, after the match is over, maybe it was good for me to have the tough first set and try to find the good control and rhythm and movement on the court.”
Djokovic is slated to play world number 99, Blaz Kavcic of Slovakia, in the round of 64.
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