The show goes on
Djokovic powers into final in stadium packed to the rafters
World number one Novak Djokovic romped into the final of his own exhibition tournament after winning both opening singles at the Adria Tour in Croatia’s coastal resort Zadar.
Djokovic saved three set points in his 4-3, 4-1 defeat of fellow Serb Pedja Krstin before he sank home crowd favourite Borna Coric 4-1, 4-3 in front of several thousand fans at the Visnjik tennis complex on Saturday.
“I hope we gave the crowd a good show,” Djokovic, who organised the event while international tennis remains suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic, said in a courtside interview.
“A few points here and there swung the tie my way. Many thanks to the fans who turned up and stayed late. The last few months have been difficult (because of the pandemic) and I hope you will come in numbers tomorrow too.”
The two-day event on red clay in
Zadar is the second leg of Djokovic’s Adria Tour, with Austrian Dominic Thiem winning the first leg in Belgrade last weekend.
The third leg due in Montenegro on June 27 and 28 has been scrapped over coronavirus concerns while the final leg is to be staged in Bosnia’s city Banja Luka on July 3 and 4.
The tournaments involve eight players each, divided into two pools of four on a round-robin basis. Sets have been slashed to best-of-seven games.
In later sessions, Djokovic will face Croatian Dino Serdarusic who replaced Grigor Dimitrov after the
Bulgarian pulled out of the tournament with sickness following his opening 4-1, 4-1 loss to Coric.
But the outcome of the contest will be meaningless as Djokovic cannot be overhauled by any of his Group A rivals.
In Group B, Russian Andrey Rublev is in pole position to advance into the final after wins over 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic and Serb Danilo Petrovic.
In the other final round-robin match, Rublev will face Germany’s world number seven Alexander Zverev who stayed in contention for a berth in the final with a 4-3, 0-4, 4-3 win over Cilic. — Reuters