Win for Djokovic after failure at Aussie Open
PLAYING for the first time since his early ousting at the Australian Open, Novak Djokovic posted a straightsets victory in the first round of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel tournament in Acapulco, Mexico.
Djokovic, a wild-card entrant who is the event’s top seed, got past Slovakia’s Martin Klizan 6-3 7-6 (4).
The Serbian star did not serve effectively through most of the match, although Klizan’s only two service breaks came in the second set.
However, Djokovic had enough to get through the decisive tiebreaker.
Djokovic had been idle since falling in the second round of the Australian Open to Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin in a five-set thriller.
In other first-round matches, second-seeded Rafael Nadal, of Spain, defeated Germany’s Mischa Zverev 6-4 6-3 in a battle of left-handers.
The same pair met earlier this year in Brisbane, Australia, where Nadal also emerged with a win.
Third-seeded Marin Cilic, of Croatia, needed three sets to get past Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3 4-6 6-0.
Fourth-seeded Dominic Thiem, of Austria, topped France’s Gilles Simon 7-6 (7), 6-3.
Sixth-seeded Nick Kyrgios, of Australia, also advanced, rebounding to top Israel’s Dudi Sela 3-6 6-3 6-3.
American Jack Sock, fresh off winning the title in the Delray Beach Open, was bounced in the first round at Acapulco, Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka beating him 3-6 6-2 6-1.
American Donald Young got a win when Aussie Bernard Tomic was forced to retire due to the heat after Young won the opening set 7-6 (5).
Tomic was back in action on Tuesday night for a doubles match, which he and partner Paolo Lorenzi, of Italy, lost 7-5 6-2 to American John Isner and Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.
Another American, Sam Querrey, posted a 6-2 4-6 6-3 win over Great Britain’s Kyle Edmund.
Lorenzi won his singles match, eliminating Taiwan’s Yen-Hsun Lu 4-6 6-3 6-4.
Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro barely got past American qualifier Frances Tiafoe 6-4 3-6 7-6 (1).
In women’s first-round action, only one seeded player fell.
Croatia’s Ajla Tomljanovic knocked off sixth-seeded Eugenie Bouchard of Canada 7-6 (4) 6-1.
None of the other seeds in action dropped a set.
Top-seeded Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, of Croatia, defeated Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic 7-5 6-4.
Third-seeded Jelena Ostapenko, of Latvia, beat Montenegro’s Danka Kovinic 6-2 6-2.
Fourth-seeded Monica Puig, of Puerto Rico, got past Italy’s Francesca Schiavone 6-4 7-6 (4).
Fifth-seeded American Christina McHale beat French qualifier Fiona Ferro 6-4 6-4. – Reuters