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Novak Djokovic advances to quarterfinals in final tournament before Roland Garros

By Justin Gincauskas

Serbia's Novak Djokovic returns a backhand to Spain's Rafael Nadal during the final of the Men's Italian Tennis Open at Foro Italico on May 16, 2021 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP) (Photo by FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP via Getty Images)
Serbia's Novak Djokovic returns a backhand to Spain's Rafael Nadal during the final of the Men's Italian Tennis Open at Foro Italico on May 16, 2021 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP) (Photo by FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Novak Djokovic played his first match at the Belgrade Open on Tuesday, defeating German Mats Moraing in straight sets 6-2, 7-6(4) in the round of 16.

This is the last ATP tour event before the French Open, which is set to begin in just five days. For Djokovic, this was his first match since losing in the finals of Rome a week and a half ago to Rafa Nadal.

It was the first meeting between Djokovic and Moraing in their careers, as this was obviously an exciting opportunity for Moraing, who is currently ranked 253 in the world. Djokovic came out strong to start the match, taking the first set quite easily 6-2. The second set was much closer and needed a tiebreak to settle things. It was Djokovic who was able to take the tiebreak 7-4, winning the match in one hour and 40 minutes.

The biggest difference between the two in the match was that Djokovic was returning serve a lot better than Moraing. According to Infosys ATP Stats, on the first serve return, Djokovic won 39% of the points compared to 29% from Moraing, and on the second serve return, it was Djokovic winning 61% of the points, while Moraing only won 45% of the points when returning Djokovic’s second serve. The return led to a lot more break point chances for Djokovic, as he would get 10 opportunities in the match and would break four times. On the other side, Moraing did get some break point chances, but not nearly as many as Djokovic, and was able to break Djokovic just twice in the match.

With a not as deep a field for the Belgrade Open, Djokovic should feel that in order to be fully prepared and confident heading into the French Open, he must win this tournament. Up next for Novak Djokovic will be Federico Coria, who won earlier Tuesday, defeating Pablo Cuevas in straight sets. It will be the first career meeting between the world number one and Coria, as they will square off in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

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