Djokovic wins despite slow start

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  • Novak Djokovic’s zen-like mood he exhibited before the tournament deserted him during a tricky first match of the season but the Serb soldiered through it to reach the Qatar Open second round on Monday.

    The defending champion had to climb back from 1-5 down in the opening set before he managed to overcome an inspired Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6 (1), 6-3 in an 86-minute contest.

    “I was a bit flat on my feet,” is how Djokovic described his slow start.

    “I had to get more time to get the engine started I guess. It’s first match of the year. You never know how you’re going to start.

    “As well as you have trained in the preparation period and the days prior to the tournament, really is different when it’s competitive play, when you start the official match and the crowd is there.”

    An aggressive Struff took Djokovic by surprise, hitting big serves and groundstrokes early on while the world No2 was mistiming his shots and moving sluggishly.

    Even after he drew level for 5-all and then took the tiebreak comfortably, Djokovic was angry at himself in the second set before he wrapped up the victory. He takes on Argentinean Horacio Zeballos in the second round.

    Djokovic has been emphasising the importance of keeping a calm and relaxed state of mind off the court in order to deal with the pressure of constantly being at the top of the sport.

    He meditates, trains outdoors, and follows what he calls a “holistic approach” to his training and this season, he has a new calming factor in the form of Dusan Vemic, whom he has added as a second coach to work alongside Marian Vajda.

    Vemic is a retired pro who played both singles and doubles and has worked with Djokovic briefly in the past. After parting ways with Boris Becker end of last season, the Serb has brought in his compatriot and good friend Vemic to add a more familial feel to his camp.

    “He brings a lot of calmness for sure. He’s quite a calm guy. But he’s also somebody that understands the game very well,” Djokovic said of the 40-year-old Vemic.

    “I’ve known him since I was five, six, seven years old. We grew up in the same tennis club. He was at the time the best player we had in the country. He was always treating me very friendly, always kind, helpful, always available for any advices.

    “I think that relationship that we established at that time kind of carried on all the way to this moment. We feel very close. We are more than friends. We feel like we are family. It’s great to have him on board, because we work together in 2012 I think and ’13, and then several years we didn’t.

    “Then last season he was in Miami for tournament and now he’s back as a second coach in the team officially. So I’m really glad, because I have that friendly relationship with him and also the professional relationship. It’s well balanced. Him and Marián get along very well. So keeping things very simple.”

    Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi runner-up and Doha’s No4 seed David Goffin navigated a rocky first set that saw him save 10 of 12 break points in before he ousted Dutchman Robin Haase 7-6 (4), 6-2.

    Goffin echoed Djokovic’s sentiments about the trickiness of the first match of the season.

    “It’s never easy when you start the first tournament of the season. Then you are a little bit nervous. You can feel the stress a little bit before the match,” said the Belgian world No11.

    World No1 Andy Murray lost his doubles opener alongside Mariusz Fyrstenberg 6-2, 6-4 to David Marrero and Nenad Zimonjic.

    Murray begins his singles campaign on Tuesday against Jeremy Chardy of France.

    The Scot had said on Sunday that he considers Djokovic the greatest threat to his No1 reign. Djokovic sees Murray as his “main rival” but says it’s dangerous to only concentrate on one opponent.

    “He’s No 1 in the world. Undoubtedly he’s the man out there. You know, now we have the return of Nadal and Federer that we cannot count out in any circumstances because of their history and results and the quality of players that they are,” said Djokovic.

    “Surely the way 2016 went, it’s kind of expected because of the season that Murray and myself. We are kind of main rivals. But as I said, I don’t want to focus the attention only on one player, because other players deserve the attention as well.”

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