By Chris Oddo | Wednesday May 30, 2018
Novak Djokovic had his hands full with Spain's Jaume Munar but managed to prevail in straight sets on Day 4.
Photo Source: Matthew Stockman/Getty
Novak Djokovic may not have played the perfect match in defeating Spain’s Jaume Munar 7-6(1), 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday afternoon in Paris, but he achieved the perfect result by battling through a two-hour and 18 minute tussle with an up-and-coming—and surprisingly skilled—21-year-old.
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Survive to thrive is the apt tennis idiom to use in times like these.
Though many will see the fact that Djokovic didn’t run roughshod over the World No.155 as an indictment of his current readiness at Roland Garros, those who have watched Djokovic turn his season around in the last month will recognize the victory as another step in the right direction.
Djokovic, who admitted he was not satisfied with his performance, hinted that it's still an ongoing process for him.
“I went through my ups and downs,” he said. “I’m not really satisfied with the performance but I just played enough in the right moments to win the match—hopefully the level will increase and will get better in the next match.”
Djokovic cracked 37 winners against 33 unforced errors and converted five of seven break points against Munar, and while he fell behind by a break in the opening set and then later squandered a break lead in both the first and second sets, he was still able to dig in and shine on the biggest points of the match.
Djokovic dominated the first-set tiebreaker and answered every challenge that Munar presented in the second and third sets as well.
Playing the match with a relaxed feel, Djokovic seemed unfazed by the problems that the shotmaking of Munar presented, and ultimately marched to victory with the air of a champion who expects to win even when challenged. The same could not have been said of the Serb two short months ago when he plodded through Indian Wells and Miami and lost his second and third consecutive matches against players ranked outside of the Top 40. Or even a month and a half ago at Monte-Carlo when he proved fit enough to challenge Dominic Thiem but ultimately not strong enough in the toughest moments to prevail. Same story with Djokovic’s loss to Kyle Edmund at Madrid—the signs of a revival were there but the wins were not.
With six wins in his last seven matches on clay, Djokovic has clearly started to take comfort in his form and believe that he is once again the player that will prevail when the going gets tough. There’s less panic and more positivity. And more of a willingness to dig in and grind.
Today’s victory over Munar wasn’t the walk in the park that most expected it to be, but for Djokovic, the fact that it was difficult at times and downright tricky at others can only be seen as a positive.
It was always going to be a process for Djokovic, and he’s still far from peak Novak, but there’s reason to believe that it’s coming again—and perhaps sooner than we expect.
There were chances for the Serb to melt down and let the demons enter on Wednesday, but they did not. Djokovic will need that relaxed sense of composure on Friday when he meets No.13-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round. Djokovic needed four sets to get past the wily Spaniard at Roland Garros in 2016 when he was at the peak of his powers, and he may need more than that when they meet again.
For now there’s a lot to like about where Novak Djokovic is headed with his game. It may not be perfect but it is certainly headed in the right direction. And that’s a whole lot better than where it was two months ago.