It wasn’t easy, but Novak Djokovic managed to battle through a tough opening match to kick off his 2016 Rogers Cup campaign. The world number one had his hands full with veteran Gilles Muller, but the Serbian came up clutch at the tail end of both sets to score a 7-5, 7-6(3) victory on a hot and windy day in Toronto.
Late break sends Djokovic through
The match got off to a slow start, with both men struggling to put returns in play in the early stages of the opening set. There were next to no openings for either player through the first eight games of the match. The closest either player would come early on was in the ninth game, when Djokovic managed to push Muller to deuce before the Luxembourger went on to hold.
In his next return game at 5-5, Djokovic made his move. At 30-30, the top seed played some crazy defence, returning a smash to keep a rally alive before ripping a seemingly impossible passing shot winner down the line to bring up the first break point of the match. The Serb took full advantage, hitting a clean return winner crosscourt with his backhand to break for 6-5. He would serve out the set in the following game.
Djokovic battles to wild finish
It seemed as though Djokovic had solved his problems at the start of the second set as he broke to love for an early 2-1 lead. However, he would struggle to consolidate the break. He would save a break point at 30-40 with an ace in the following game, but double-faulted to give Muller another break point. The Luxembourger drew an error to level the set at 2-2.
Again at 4-4, Muller played a sloppy game, only this time a pair of double faults resulted in break points for Djokovic. Muller would drive a forehand into the net to surrender the break and give the world number one a chance to serve for the match. However, the Serb tightened up and double faulted himself to give Muller a pair of break points. The Luxembourger would crush a forehand winner to level the set at 5-5. A volley error at 5-5, 30-30 from Muller gave Djokovic a chance to break in the next game, but it was saved by some great net play by Muller.
The set required a tiebreak and it was the Luxembourger racing ahead, drawing an error for a minibreak at 2-0. He would stretch the lead to 3-1 before the world number one turned things around for the final time. Djokovic reeled off six straight points, three of which were Muller errors on his own serve, to claim the tiebreak 7-3 and close out the match after an hour and 43 minutes.
By the numbers
Muller pounded eleven aces and won 70 percent of his first serve points, but that could not balance out only 40 percent of his second serve points won. Djokovic was much stronger, winning 76 percent of his first serves and 66 percent of second serves. Both men did well at converting break points, with Djokovic scoring three of five, while Muller managed to win two of three. Only once did either player hold a break point in a game and failed to win that game (Djokovic at 5-5 in the second).
Djokovic will play another veteran in the form of Radek Stepanek, the oldest player in the draw, in the third round.