Novak Djokovic was severely tested on Tuesday before securing a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win over Philipp Kohlschreiber to survive his opening match at the Monte Carlo Masters.
The winner of the past three Grand Slams made eight double faults, dropped serve four times and smashed a racket after losing the second set to his German opponent in the second-round encounter.
The world No. 1 was relieved to avoid defeat in his first match of the clay season.
Photo: AFP
“It was a difficult match, there were lots of breaks,” Djokovic said. “There were lots of ups and downs. It was not the prettiest of matches. He played well, but a win is a win. This was a tough first match of the clay season.”
Djokovic was able to avoid a second straight loss to Kohlschreiber after the 35-year-old beat him last month in the Indian Wells third round.
Djokovic, who lives in Monaco, is playing his “home” event for the 13th time in 14 years, winning it in 2013 and 2015, and losing in the final on two other occasions.
Kohlschreiber lost his 12th match from 13 played against top-ranked opponents, but gave as good as he got against an out-of-sorts Djokovic, who needed five match points to go through.
Argentine Guido Pella dealt a second-round blow to seventh seed Marin Cilic, beating the Croatian 6-3, 5-7, 6-1.
The defeat in just over 2 hours left 2014 US Open winner Cilic with one win from six matches since January’s Australian Open, where he went out in the fourth round.
Pella, who won his first career match at the event in the first round on Sunday, emerged a winner as he played on the idyllic center court for the first time.
Cilic was playing here for the 11th straight year, with quarter-final showings in three of the past four editions.
Left-hander Pella came to the European clay with a title this season in Sao Paulo. This year, he stands 13-3 on the surface.
Pella moved into a winning position as he broke Cilic for the eighth time of the afternoon, winning a six-minute game before serving out the upset, saving a break point in the final game and wrapping up victory as Cilic fired wide.
In the first round, Briton Cameron Norrie advanced in his debut match at the event, with the 23-year-old defeating Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 6-3.
The 56th-ranked Norrie was impressed with the dramatic setting of the iconic Monte Carlo Country Club, which overlooks the Mediterranean from a cliff.
Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced into a second-round contest with third seed Alexander Zverev after beating Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Londero 7-5, 7-6 (7/5).
Italian qualifier Lorenzo Sonego beat Russian eighth seed Karen Khachanov 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.
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