Djokovic through in Monte Carlo after Simon scare
MONTE CARLO, Monaco: Novak Djokovic was made to sweat before struggling to victory 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 against Gilles Simon at Monte Carlo on Tuesday in his first clay court match of the season.
“It was a very difficult match, with many changes of momentum,” the world No. 2 Djokovic said. “It was very tiring for me, the first clay of the season.
“But this is the start of the Roland Garros build-up.”
Monaco resident Djokovic was broken at 4-4 in the decider but then reeled off three straight games to snatch victory.
He has suffered a disjointed start to the season with patchy form while recently sitting out the Miami Masters due to an elbow injury.
Djokovic won the Monte Carlo Masters in 2013 and 2015 but has won only one tournament so far this season, the Qatar Open at the start of January.
Earlier in the day, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, back on court for the first time since the birth of his son, was upset by a qualifier in the second round.
The seventh-seeded Tsonga lost to fellow Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-3 at the first big tournament of the clay-court swing.
A two-time semifinalist at the Country Club, Tsonga had not played since losing his opening match to Fabio Fognini at Indian Wells in early March. Tsonga then took time off following the birth of his first child Shugar on March 18.
The 10th-ranked Tsonga led 3-0 in the first set then struggled to cope with the good mix of baseline shots and slices from Mannarino.
Mannarino broke Tsonga six times and will next go against Lucas Pouille or Paolo Lorenzi.
World No. 56 Mannarino, who won two matches in qualifying and beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez on Monday, dictated with his potent backhand and forays to the net to improve to 2-18 lifetime against players in the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings. His only previous win over an elite player came against the then No. 8-ranked Stan Wawrinka in March 2015 at the Miami Open presented by Itau.
Tsonga took a 4/1 lead and finished the 52-minute opener with a forehand winner down the line. Mannarino responded to surge to a 5-0 lead in the second set, leaving a capacity crowd primed for a decider.
Having saved one break point in the third game of the deciding set, Mannarino broke Tsonga to 15 for a 3-1 lead. Tsonga, the 2013 and 2016 semifinalist, continued to battle in his first match since 11 March at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Tsonga got back to 3-4 but broke a string when hitting a forehand at 15/40 to gift Mannarino a chance to serve for the match. The 28-year-old Mannarino was not to be denied his seventh match win of the 2017 ATP World Tour season, which lasted two hours and five minutes.
Tsonga became a father for the first time with the birth of his son, Shugar, on March 18, and celebrated his 32nd birthday at the Monte-Carlo Country Club on Monday.
Pouille gained safe passage past the lone American in the draw, Ryan Harrison, 6-2, 6-4 in 72 minutes. Harrison, this year’s Memphis titlist, was playing his first tournament since getting married to Lauren McHale on 31 March in Austin, Texas. Lorenzi was a 6-2, 6-4 winner over Marcel Granollers.
“It was a good start for the tournament, very solid,” said Pouille. “From the beginning to the end, I played well, except for one game where I got broken. Other than that, I’m very happy with this first round.”
Tommy Haas made a welcome return to the Monte-Carlo Country Club by beating Benoit Paire 6-2, 6-3 in 68 minutes.