Novak Djokovic faced a tough challenge from Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the opening round of the Italian Open on Friday. Djokovic, who is aiming for his seventh title on the red clay of the Foro Italico as he prepares for the French Open, twice had to recover from deficits during a tight first set.
After his serve was broken in the opening game of the match, Djokovic fell behind 3-1 before eventually getting back on serve. Djokovic had two set points on Etcheverry’s serve at 5-4 in the first but the Argentine produced two big serves that Djokovic couldn’t return. Then Etcheverry took a 3-0 lead in the tiebreaker before Djokovic again rallied back.
Djokovic’s Preparation for French Open
Djokovic was returning after three weeks off due to a lingering issue with his surgically repaired right elbow. In his previous two tournaments on red clay, Djokovic had consecutive early exits. He lost in the round of 16 at Monte Carlo to Lorenzo Musetti. Then Dusan Lajovic beat him in the quarterfinals of the Srpska Open in Bosnia and Herzegovina, dealing him his first loss to a fellow Serbian in 11 years.
At Roland Garros, Djokovic will be attempting to add to his total of 22 Grand Slam titles and break a tie for the record with Rafael Nadal. Nadal, who holds the record of 10 titles in Rome, is not playing as he remains hampered by a nagging hip injury, leaving his status for Roland Garros in question.
Despite the up and down start, Djokovic produced moments of vintage play. Djokovic’s third-round opponent will be Grigor Dimitrov, who beat Stan Wawrinka in straight sets.
In the women’s action, top-ranked Iga Swiatek opened her bid for a third straight Rome title with a 6-0, 6-0 rout of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Paula Badosa defeated last year’s runner-up Ons Jabeur, while ninth-seeded Maria Sakkari beat Barbora Strycova. Karolina Muchova eliminated the top Italian woman, Martina Trevisan, in three sets.
Local hope Jannik Sinner was nearly unbeatable on his serve as he defeated Thanasi Kokkinakis. Sinner won all 16 of his service points in the first set and 36 of 39 overall behind strong home support. Sinner will next play Russian qualifier Alexander Shevchenko in the second round.
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