Novak Djokovic returned to action in Beijing 11 years after his last appearance and extended his incredible record to 30 consecutive wins at the China Open on Wednesday.
Djokovic, a six-time winner in the Chinese capital, received a medical timeout in the second set but did enough to defeat Portugal’s Nuno Borges 6-3 7-6 (7-2) and reach the second round.
Next up for Djokovic is home favourite Buyunchaokete Bu, who beat Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-2 5-7 6-4.
“In the second set he started playing better and I struggled a little bit physically to stay fresh,” said Djokovic, who arrived in Beijing having suffered opening-round exits at the US Open and at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati.
“When I was serving, I was dominating and going through my games quite comfortably. It was helping getting those first serves in, that high percentages makes my life easier in my service games and I played a great tie-break to close it out in two, so I am very happy about that.”
Djokovic, 39, was treated on court by the physio at 3-2 down in the second set, but he didn’t appear to be hindered by the issue as he saw out his next two service matches to love and played some of his best tennis of the match.
There was only one break of serve during the match, by Djokovic in Borges’ first service game.
Djokovic raced ahead in the tie-break and swiftly racked up four match points, but needed only one as Borges found the net.
“That was a really competitive match by the end of it,” Annabel Croft told Sky Sports Tennis.
“Djokovic managed to find a way towards that finishing line and actually his service games became more and more efficient. So much of what we talked about in commentary was the physicality of the match and how uncomfortable Djokovic felt.”
Selected matches on Sky Sports Tennis and Sky Sports+ this Thursday
Tale of the Tape
Boulter sets up Muchova tie
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Highlights of the China Open match between Mai Hontama and Katie Boulter
Katie Boulter opened her campaign in Beijing with a 6-3 6-4 victory against Japanese qualifier Mai Hontama.
The British No 1 will now go on to face seventh seed and Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Muchova which will mark a third career meeting between the pair, and second this year following Muchova’s straight-sets victory over Boulter in the second round of the US Open.
US Open semi-finalist Karen Khachanov continued his recent domination of Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3 6-3.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com
