By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, February 24, 2020
In his first Dubai match since 2016, a precise Novak Djokovic drilled Malek Jaziri 6-1, 6-2 raising his 2020 record to a perfect 14-0
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve
No matter where he competes, Novak Djokovic continues to defy laws of gravity in 2020.
Once he gets up, Djokovic's not coming down.
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Sustaining his soaring start to the season, a precise Djokovic drilled Malek Jaziri 6-1, 6-2 in one-hour Dubai thrashing raising his 2020 record to a perfect 14-0.
In his first Dubai match since 2016, Djokovic served 70 percent, pumped 7 aces, permitted just 5 points on first serve and did not face a break point in a dynamic performance.
"It was a great atmosphere with the Tunisian fans and also Serbian fans," Djokovic said in his on-court interview. "I haven’t played in Dubai for [four] years. I missed it honestly. I love this court, love this city.
"I’ve been coming to Dubai traditionally as a lot of male and female players in December in the offseason to prepare for Australia. It’s a great city with a lot of sporting culture. This tournamengt has been historically attracting a lot of top players so it’s a pleasure to be here."
It was Djokovic's first match since he out-dueled Dominic Thiem to collect his eighth Australian Open crown in Melbourne last month.
The world No. 1 converted four of eight break points extending his winning streak to 17 matches. Djokovic says the secret to his 2020 ascendance is no secret.
"I just practice well, I guess," Djokovic said. "I don’t know. I work as hard as anybody else, but I think more importantly for me personally is working smart. Understanding what suits me best in terms of routines and modalities of recovery and training to improve myself on and off the court in order to peak, I guess, at the right time.
"Grand Slams, especially at this stage of my career, are obviously the biggest priority, but I treat every match and every tournament equally important."
Two minutes into his return, Djokovic displayed elastic precision threading the needle with a full-stretch forward strike over the net post navigating a deuce hold to open.
Slashing strikes down both sidelines, Djokovic converted his third break point when Jaziri brain-cramped stopping play to challenge the Serbian’s shot that pierced the baseline.
Despite another double fault, Djokovic cruised to a 3-0 lead after 14 minutes of play.
Pounding away at Jaziri’s slice backhand, Djokovic refused to yield ground, straddling the baseline to squeeze space from his opponent.
The eight-time Australian Open champion cracked an ace holding at love to extend his shutout to 5-0 after 21 minutes.
The Tunisian smiled and the crowd cheered when Jaziri held to finally get on the scoreboard after 25 minutes.
Slamming his third ace off the service stripe, Djokovic closed a commanding opening set winning 12 of his 14 first-serve points.
The world No. 260 stayed in step through the first four games of the second set.
The unrelenting depth Djokovic delivered took a toll. Jaziri spun a second serve into net gifting the break and a 3-2 second-set lead to Djokovic.
Swinging freely, Djokovic game his sometime practice partner a guided tour of the court. Drawing Jaziri forward with a feathery drop shot, Djokovic tormented the Tunisian lofting a lob over his head to break for 5-2.
Djokovic, who won nine of 10 trips to net, sealed a one-hour win in style smacking his seventh ace to end it. Next up for Djokovic is a second-round meeting with 36-year-old German Philipp Kohlschreiber.
The Belgrade baseliner has beaten Kohlschreiber in 11 of their 13 career meetings though the German did surprise Djokovic 6-4, 6-4 in Indian Wells last March.
“Not too many secrets; we played many times,” Djokovic said of Kohlschreiber. “We go back many years. We know each others games pretty well. He’s a very talented player he’s got an all-around game. I lost to him in Indian Wells last year in straight sets so he can deliver his best game in this kind of matches on center courts against the biggest players of the world. I know what he’s capable of so I’ll try to give my best.