ROME (AP) — Novak Djokovic behaved higher Wednesday in his first match since being defaulted from the U.S. Open.
The highest-ranked Serb was principally courteous with the chair umpire and had no interplay with the road judges throughout a 6-3, 6-2 win over native wild-card entry Salvatore Caruso in his opening match on the Italian Open.
The efficiency got here in sharp distinction to the scene in New York 10 days in the past, when Djokovic was disqualified for unintentionally hitting a line choose within the throat with a ball. Djokovic mentioned earlier this week that the incident taught him ”a giant lesson.”
”I used to be truly wanting ahead to (taking part in once more) as quickly as potential after what occurred in New York,” Djokovic mentioned. ”As a result of I really feel just like the sentiment on the court docket must be constructive, and I must type of take away something that may probably trigger any type of points to me – if there’s something.”
When the umpire got here down to examine a ball mark on the crimson clay early within the first set and made an overrule in Caruso’s favor, Djokovic simply replied, ”Yup,” and rubbed out the mark along with his crimson sneaker.
When Caruso impressed him – the Italian hit 13 winners to Djokovic’s 12 – Djokovic mentioned, ”Bravo.”
”It was a sizzling day in opposition to Caruso who already performed three matches right here, a clay court docket specialist. It was an excellent take a look at for me,” Djokovic mentioned. ”I am very happy with the way in which I dealt with myself in necessary moments.”
Djokovic’s solely testy second got here throughout the third recreation of the second set, which went to deuce seven occasions earlier than Djokovic lastly broke Caruso’s serve. As the sport wore on, Djokovic appeared bothered by crowd noise, despite the fact that the Foro Italico is empty of followers this 12 months due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The one folks contained in the stadium had been coaches and others working on the event.
”Which of them?” the umpire requested Djokovic, making an attempt to determine who was bothering him.
Djokovic replied curtly: ”There’s 10 folks within the stands.”
Afterward, Djokovic defined: ”It was very, very quiet, which may be very uncommon to what we’re used to right here in Rome, which has one of many loudest and most energetic crowd atmospheres on the tour. However there was anyone within the hall of the stadium that was speaking – about 5, six folks.”
After successful, Djokovic laughed to himself as he carried out his common on-court celebration, waving his arms towards all 4 sides of the Campo Centrale stands.
”I miss the group,” he mentioned. ”Italy has a pleasant tennis custom and this event has been round for a few years. It is somewhat unusual.”
Djokovic, a four-time Rome champion, subsequent faces both Italian qualifier Marco Cecchinato or Filip Krajinovic.
Later, nine-time Rome champion Rafael Nadal was to make his return to competitors after a seven-month absence in opposition to Pablo Carreno Busta.
Additionally within the second spherical, Rome resident Matteo Berrettini defeated Argentina Federico Coria 7-5, 6-1, Marin Cilic beat sixth-seeded David Goffin 6-2, 6-2, and Italian wild-card entry Stefano Travaglia eradicated U.S. Open quarterfinalist Borna Coric 7-6 (2), 7-5.
Within the girls’s event, top-seeded Simona Halep beat Italian wild-card entry Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-4, final 12 months’s semifinalist Kiki Bertens defeated Polona Hercog 6-2, 6-4, and Montenegrin qualifier Danka Kovinic eradicated sixth-seeded Belinda Bencic 6-3, 6-1.
The clay-court occasion, which was rescheduled from Could due to the pandemic, is a vital warmup for the rescheduled French Open, which begins in 11 days.
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Extra AP Tennis: https://apnews.com/apf-Tennis and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports activities
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Andrew Dampf on Twitter: www.twitter.com/AndrewDampf
