MONACO — Novak Djokovic made gentle work of his return to clay and didn’t face a break level when beating Roman Safiullin 6-1, 6-2 to achieve the third spherical of the Monte Carlo Masters on Tuesday.
Serving for the match, Djokovic received on his second match level when Safiullin’s return sank into the online. Total, Djokovic may maybe have been a bit of extra scientific, since he pressured 19 break factors and transformed simply 5 of them.
It was the top-ranked Serb’s first clay-court event since profitable the French Open final yr to clinch a males’s-record twenty third main title. He added the U.S. Open t o prolong that complete to 24 however misplaced within the semifinals on the Australian Open this yr to eventual winner Jannik Sinner, and is searching for his first title of 2024.
Djokovic not too long ago cut up with coach Goran Ivanisevic, ending their affiliation that started in 2018 — and included a wholesome half of these main titles.
In cloudy circumstances on the Monte Carlo Nation Membership, Djokovic secured two service breaks to steer 4-0 in fast time, earlier than Safiullin lastly held serve.
Djokovic’s drop shot regarded in good order and he clinched the primary set in 33 minutes when Safiullin, on his second serve at 0-40, hit a return into the online.
Djokovic subsequent performs both Frenchman Arthur Fils or Lorenzo Musetti.
Djokovic is seeking to win Monte Carlo for the third time however first since 2015. He hasn’t made it previous the quarterfinals since then, and will face defending champion Andrey Rublev within the quarters.
Shortly earlier than Djokovic got here onto heart courtroom, his rival Carlos Alcaraz pulled out due to a muscle damage to his proper forearm. Final week, report 11-time winner Rafael Nadal withdrew from the event with damage.
Later Tuesday within the second spherical, fifth-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany confronted Sebastian Ofner of Austria.
In remaining first-round matches, there have been wins for No. 10 Hubert Hurkacz of Poland and No. 11 Alex de Minaur of Australia.
De Minaur eased previous 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka 6-3, 6-0, breaking the three-time Grand Slam winner’s serve six instances, whereas Hurkacz battled previous Britain’s Jack Draper 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2).
Sebastian Korda, Roberto Bautista Agut, Miomir Kecmanovic and Zhang Zhizhen additionally superior to the second spherical.
Second-ranked Sinner faces Korda on Wednesday. Sinner is 22-1 with three titles in 2024, together with not too long ago on the Miami Open.
