At the 2022 Serbian Open, Djokovic came back from a set down against seventh seed Miomir Kecmanovic to win the second-round match 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
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The Novak Djokovic that we know seems to have found his mojo again. When the Serbian tennis superstar was unceremoniously dumped out of the 2022 Monte Carlo Masters by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the round of 32, many questioned the fitness of the reigning Roland Garros champion. With the clay-court Grand Slam only a month away, fans had expected Djoker Nole to raise his game to a whole new level. That might not have happened in Monaco but in his home country of Serbia, he seems to be making significant progress to that end. At the 2022 Serbian Open, Djokovic came back from a set down against seventh seed Miomir Kecmanovic to win the second-round match 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. The top seed recorded a comeback win against Laslo Djere in the first round as well.
Kecmanovic took the first set without much discomfort. The seventh seed was aggressive from the get-go, a good strategy against someone like Djokovic. He did not face a single break point. It took time for Djokovic to get going but as soon as he found his footing, there was no turning back. The 34-year-old played some of his best tennis this season from the second set.
Djokovic’s accuracy and consistency kept rising throughout the match ever since the first set ended. The beginning of the second set itself was a highly eventful affair with one break chance in the very first four games. The top seed, however, held his nerve and won the second set with the poise and confidence of the best tennis player in the world.
The third set, but this point, was routine. Djokovic was virtually unplayable and Kecmanovic, whose aggressive strategy seemed to pay off at the beginning, seemed to have no effect on the top seed anymore. The cool and composed Djokovic dispatched his compatriot with relative ease as he won the final set of the match to advance to the next round of the Serbian Open.
The match lasted two hours and 18 minutes and while Kecmanovic did a good job of initially taking the fight to the greatest ever Serbian tennis player, he was simply not strong enough to go the distance. Djokovic will face the winner of the match between Karen Khachanov and Thiago Monteiro in the next round.
The nature of the win spells good news for the top-seeded Serbian who will be looking to defend his French Open title in May.
