Novak Djokovic will face Sam Querrey in the third round at the Toronto Masters – Tennis News
Defending champion, Novak Djokovic will contest against the American underdog, Sam Querrey, in the third round of the Toronto Masters. Earlier in the tournament the Serbian tennis ace dispatched the 19-year-old Australian in a straight sets match of 6-2, 6-3 in 71 minutes at the Rexall Centre in Toronto, Canada.
In an interview after the initial match Djokovic told the media, “For the first match it was a decent performance. Obviously, at the start, we played very long opening four games, and I was struggling to find the rhythm… It’s totally different conditions, time zone, ball bounce, everything.”
The Serbian added, “But I love playing on hard court. It’s my favourite surface. Obviously when I needed to play well and be patient, I’ve done that really well today. Serve was working really well, so that’s a positive.”
Querrey is all set to face the former world number one in the crunch match. Previously, he had prevailed over Jurgen Melzer of Austria, 6-3, 6-2, in the first round of the tournament. Later he qualified for the next round by registering a straight set upset against the Japanese tennis ace, Kei Nishikori by 6-2, 6-3. The US tennis professional saved seven break points in the first set of the match and broke his opponent serve twice to fight past a lead. In the second set of the match he secured 81 percent of the serve points and one breakpoint to declare himself as the champion.
On the other hand the Serbian maintains his lead against Querrey in the head-to-head score by 3-love. He has a decent chance to win the next match at the hard courts of Toronto. He has disposed Querrey in straight sets in all the prior matches being played against the American.
The Serb is considered as the top favourite contender for the Rogers Cup 2012. He was unable to defend his bronze medal at the London Olympics and his performance has deteriorated ever since the Wimbledon Champions. Nonetheless, he can regain his top rank by securing the Masters event in Toronto.
After the withdrawal of the reigning world champion, Roger Federer, the King of Clay court, Rafael Nadal and the Olympic gold medallist, Andy Murray, the stage is all set for the Serb to rock. He is desperate to bag home the title after his critical upsets in the past.
The former world number one needs to maintain his focus and determination if he intends to nudge past his number one rank as before. He surely needs to avoid making errors and adopt more agile game plan in the coming rounds of the event.
Tags: