“I had never seen him play before today, and it’s always difficult to face an opponent you don’t know”: Novak Djokovic was almost surprised by the Russian Ivan Gakhov (198th in the world) before to dismiss it 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 in 1h47. The Serb, world number 1 who returns to competition after being deprived of the American tour in Indian Wells and Miami for refusal of the anti-covid vaccine, took time to set up his game in this second round match since he was exempt from the first because of its classification.
It was Gakhov who was the first to prove dangerous by scoring the first break of the match to lead 4-3. Stung, Djokovic unbroken immediately, but could not prevent the round from ending in the tie break where he concluded on his first set point. The second round was one-sided even though Gakhov hung on until the end.
Zverev returns
“I didn’t play well in the first set while he did. In the second, I raised my level of play”, analyzed Djokovic. “Clay is the surface on which I find it most difficult to adapt, to find the rhythm. I always need one or two weeks of tournaments on clay to really play the way I want. And even if I’ve been training on clay for three weeks, and I felt good on the points played in training, it’s always different in competition”, insisted the co-holder with Rafael Nadal of the record of 22 titles of the Grand Slam.
Big favorite in the absence of Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, Djokovic is aiming for a third title in Monte-Carlo after 2013 and 2015. For his part, Zverev returned to clay after his injury in the semi-finals of Roland-Garros last year . The German, former world number 2 fell in the rankings during his recovery to point this week to 16th ATP rank, defeated Kazakh Alexander Bublik (53rd) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.
“Last year, I played the best tennis of my life, especially at Roland-Garros, and I have to get used to playing on clay again, to slide,” he explained after his qualification for the second round. He did not return to competition until early January in Australia on hard for the United Cup (two defeats). Since then, he had won only seven victories on the ATP circuit in six tournaments, notably reaching the semi-finals in Dubai (beaten by Andrey Rublev), but remained on a heavy defeat 6-0, 6-4 against Taro Daniel (97th) as soon as he entered the running in Miami.
Already finished for the French
The left wrist was too painful: Bonzi (48th), yet right-handed, had to forfeit after only 22 minutes of play against Tsitsipas (3rd). From the first set, at the change of sides when he was down 3-0, the 26-year-old Frenchman had a bandage put on his wrist. He resumed the match and won his face-off, but after yielding almost unopposed on Tsitsipas’ serve, he threw in the towel. Last year for his first participation, he lost in the first round. Bonzi was the only Tricolore to have reached the second round of the Monegasque tournament.
After Richard Gasquet the day before, Ugo Humbert, who went through the qualifications, also gave in not without having had four match points against the Italian Lorenzo Sonego (45th) 3-6, 7-5, 7-5. The 24-year-old Frenchman clearly dominated the first set and served for the match at 5-4 in the second. “I was having the best game of my career on earth,” he said. But while he had never conceded his face-off before, he lost two service games in a row to allow the Italian to equalize at one set everywhere. Bis repeated in the deciding set where Humbert again served for the match at 5-4. He got four match points but converted none and again let his opponent win the set and therefore the match.