Monte Carlo [Monaco], April 12 : World No.1 Novak Djokovic avenged his previous year's defeat at the hands of Lorenzo Musetti at the Monte-Carlo Masters as he registered a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Italian to advance to the quarter-finals on Thursday.
Twelve months ago, the Serbian was knocked out in the third round by the Italian in the Principality, and history threatened to repeat itself in this year's edition as Musetti led by a break early on.
Despite being the world number one, Djokovic had a tough start and struggled in the first set against the 24th-ranked Musetti.
However, overcoming Djokovic twice is no easy achievement, and the World No. 1 did not capitulate, finding enough consistency at vital times to progress to the quarter-finals.
"It was a little exchange with the crowd at 4-3, 40/0 for him in the first set and ever since then I gained momentum. He lost focus a little bit. He was the better player for those first seven games, and played some great tennis. Played really good shots and made me run," Djokovic said of the opening set as quoted by ATP.
"But this is clay and obviously things can turn around very quickly and a break of serve is not as a big advantage on this surface compared to the other surfaces. We saw a little bit of a rollercoaster in the second set, so I am pleased that staying tough and aggressive in the tight moments paid off," he added.
The 36-year-old was irritated at times in the opening set against Musetti, who caused Serbia difficulties with his court craft.
However, the Serbian got the critical break in the 12th game of the opening set before playing with more energy and freedom in the second set to reach the last eight after one hour and 59 minutes match.
"I don't think I am still at my top level but it was a great test today against a great player, a very talented player. I lost to him last year here, in similar circumstances. I was a set and 4-2 up and I must say it was in the back of my mind when I was serving at 4-2, 40/15 and lost my serve today. I thought, 'Oh no, hopefully this is not a similar scenario like last year'. I am really glad to overcome the challenge and look forward to the next one," Djokovic said.
Djokovic will next meet Alex de Minaur in the quarter-final clash on Friday.
Elsewhere, Jannik Sinner advanced to his third ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final of the season as he beat Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 6-2 at the Monte-Carlo Masters.
The Italian navigated an early exchange of breaks before boosting his level to 4-4 in the first set, breaking the German's serve and closing the set with his own delivery.
Despite an unusual 10 unforced mistakes in the opening set, the 22-year-old pounded the ball hard and blasted Struff from corner to corner in heavy-hitting baseline rallies to advance after one hour and 16 minutes.
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