Monte-Carlo Masters: Novak Djokovic cruises to victory as Jack Draper narrowly beaten
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Novak Djokovic returned to action at the Monte-Carlo Masters with a comfortable victory but Jack Draper was narrowly beaten by 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz.
Djokovic was playing his first match since Indian Wells after choosing to skip Miami and then parting ways with long-time coach Goran Ivanisevic.
With former doubles specialist and fellow Serb Nenad Zimonjic guiding him from the stands, Djokovic eased to a 6-1 6-2 victory over Russia’s Roman Safiullin.
Djokovic, who pulled out of the recent Miami Open as he tries to balance his schedule, looked fresh as he broke Safiullin’s serve three times in the opening set, and a further two breaks in the second was enough to seal the win.
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“I’m very pleased. Even the games that I lost, I had break points in those games. Really good first match at the start of the clay season. I hope to maintain this rhythm,” Djokovic said on Sky Sports.
On Sunday, Djokovic overtook Roger Federer as the oldest No 1-ranked singles player in ATP rankings history, at 36 years and 321 days.
Hurkacz reached the second round with a 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-2) win, but was made to battle by Britain’s Draper after the Pole looked like dominating early on.
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Hurkacz raced into a 3-0 lead in the first set but Draper rallied to level at 4-4, before the 10th seed broke serve to take the opener. Draper then broke to love twice to win the second set and force the decider.
With Hurkacz serving at 5-4 to win the match, Draper broke serve but it was a relieved Hurkacz who emerged victorious in the tiebreak.
Hurkacz, who also beat Draper at last year’s tournament, will face Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain in the second round.
Draper’s exit ends British interest in the singles, with Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans also losing in the first round.
“Jack is a great competitor, he came with lots of good shots at the end and I managed to hold my serve and played a great tiebreaker,” Hurkacz said.
“I always try to compete the best I can, the margins are so small and the conditions are always different, the clay is less slippery and the ball is flying differently so you have to manage these things and it’s not easy.”
Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from the Monte-Carlo Masters ahead of his opening match due to a right forearm injury.
Alcaraz, recently overtaken as world No 2 by Jannik Sinner, had been due to face Felix Auger-Aliassime in the second round after receiving a first-round bye.
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