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By Chris Oddo | Thursday, May 28, 2015


World No. 1 Novak Djokovic won his 24th consecutive match on Day 5 in Paris, taking down Gilles Muller, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4, to set up a third-round encounter with Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis.

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The match had a bit of everything. Djokovic’s usual brilliance was there pretty much throughout, but the Serb encountered a bit of turbulence late in the second set when he tweaked his hip and had to see the trainer. That created some stress in Djokovic’s body language (as well as concern among the members of his team and among spectators at Court Suzanne Lenglen), as he played carefully for the remainder of the contest to be sure he didn’t cause his body any unnecessary damage.


Clearly Djokovic had his mind off the tennis a bit in the waning moments of the match, as was demonstrated by this strange play (see video at top of page) in the sixth game of the third set, which led to a double-break point for Muller.

The Serb would have to work a bit harder for the win because of that moment of generosity, but it might have been a blessing in disguise because by the end of the set Djokovic seemed to regain comfort with his movement. He crushed an absolutely breathtaking winner from about 15 feet behind the baseline to give himself a match point, and closed out the win immediately thereafter. Djokovic, now 37-2 on the season, improved to 44-10 at Roland Garros with the win.

Afterwards the world No. 1 got a quick French lesson and it was off to the showers:


The world No. 1 finished with 35 winners against 18 unforced errors, and converted on five of 12 break points on the day.

 

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