Novak Djokovic begins his Paris title defence in style

Arriving in the French capital after back-to-back indoor titles in Tel Aviv and Astana in October, the Serbian stretched his winning run to 10 matches following his summer hiatus

Novak Djokovic began the defence of his Paris Masters title with a clinical 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 second round win against American Maxime Cressy on Tuesday. Arriving in the French capital after back-to-back indoor titles in Tel Aviv and Astana in October, the Serbian stretched his winning run to 10 matches following his summer hiatus.

The big-serving Paris-born Cressy proved tough to crack in the opening set, saving three set points before being undone by two double faults in the tie-break. Djokovic though weathered Cressy’s aggressive but not altogether reliable delivery—he hit 15 aces and 10 double faults—and he got his break on return to lead 5-4 in the second set, to go on to serve out for the match. 

Also read: Novak Djokovic eases past Khachanov to enter Astana semi-finals

“It was very intense, just a lot of pressure,” said the 35-year-old Djokovic, whose winning start was celebrated by the Bercy crowd. “When you play someone that serves this well—first and second serve—you don’t have much room to relax in such type of games...You just have to be on your toes all the time. “I’ve never come up against a player in my career with such a second service. I had to not give him gifts and points,” added Djokovic.

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