Paris (AFP)
Novak Djokovic, N.1 world, seemed very weak physically Wednesday for his entry in the running at the Masters 1000 in Paris against Corentin Moutet (97th), but he escaped by taking advantage of the many mistakes of his opponent beat 7- 6 (7/2), 6-4.
The Serb, who will give Rafael Nadal his throne world after the tournament whatever happens, will face Thursday Diego Schwartzman (15th) or Kyle Edmund (75th).
In the first set, Djokovic multiplied the faults directly (22 for 11 points winners). As exhausted, he owed his salvation to the large number of mistakes made by Moutet (23 for 11 points winners) and his inability to conclude the important points.
The French has broken to lead 4-3, then 5-3 after saving four balls of break. But the Serb came back, saving two set balls in the process, and his momentum dominated the decisive game.
Arms dangling between exchanges, Djokovic was able to concentrate his forces to break and lead 2-1 in the second set. He continued his momentum until 4-1.
The Djoker lost one of his face-offs, but remained strong afterwards to win the match after 1:46 of obvious suffering.
© 2019 AFP