Djokovic Ups Win Streak To 12 At Astana, Tsitsipas Wins
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Novak Djokovic opened play at the ATP 500 event in Astana Wednesday in Kazakhstan and dominated Cristian Garin 6-1, 6-1 to reach the second round.
The Serb, who just won Tel Aviv on Sunday, has now won his last 12 matches in tournament play.
“From the start to the end, a great performance,” said Djokovic. “Playing in a new tournament, different conditions, the first match is never easy. Obviously you are looking to see how you are going to adapt, but I did it perfectly, really, played as well as I can. I just made him work and used every opportunity that was presented to me.”
Tomorrow, he’ll meet former US Open quarterfinalist Botic Van De Zandschulp. Djokovic needs a lot of work to qualify for the year-end finals next month.
Stefanos Tsitsipas advanced over Italian qualifier Luca Nardi in two tiebreakers.
“He’s a player that can play very well in the future,” said Tsitsipas of the 19-year-old Nardi. “I was impressed by his level, he was able to maintain that throughout the entire match. There weren’t any holes. I believe today he was able to sustain that level from the beginning to end, and that was extremely impressive.
“I was trying to do my best, I was trying to switch it up as much as I can, but it wasn’t as easy as I had it planned in my head. He made it difficult today.”
Andrey Rublev and Marin Cilic were also winners. Adrian Mannarino knocked out David Goffin in three. Goffin was a lucky loser replaced Holger Rune, then upset Carlos Alcaraz.
Emil Ruusuvuori topped Sofia champion Marc-Andrea Huesler. The Fin will now face Daniil Medvedev tomorrow.
Also tomorrow, Cilic will take on Karen Khachanov and Hubert Hurkacz collides with Alexander Bublik.
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