Wimbledon 2022: 3 factors which stood out in Novak Djokovic's 3R win over Miomir Kecmanovic
Top seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia beat his compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 to move into the last 16 of the Wimbledon Championships on Friday. The match lasted almost two hours as the 35-year-old did not have much trouble dismantling his much younger rival.
With this win, he remained on course for his fourth successive Wimbledon title and seventh overall. The Serb looked in great touch and has not dropped a set in his last two matches.
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On that note, let’s take a look at three factors that stood out in the match:
#1 Djokovic was off to a perfect start
Djokovic made a flying start by winning the first three games of the match in no time. He broke Kecmanovic in the second game after the latter succeeded in saving a break point. In the subsequent game, Kecmanovic had three break points as Djokovic trailed 0-40, but the latter came back well to win five consecutive points.
The first three games set the tone for the rest of the match. The 20-time Major winner then broke Kecmanovic in the fourth and sixth games of the first set as well, as the latter could not put up any resistance. The first set ended in just 24 minutes.
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He was particularly lethal with his forehand and hit quite a few winners off it in the first set. Kecmanovic, on the other hand, struggled to hold his own in the rallies from the baseline and committed a lot of unforced errors.
#2 Kecmanovic fought better in the second set, but Djokovic got the crucial break
Kecmanovic fought better in the second set and finally succeeded in winning his first game of the match, though he had to save yet another break point before doing so. The two players managed to hold their respective serves for the first seven games of the second set. However, the defending champion got a crucial break in the eighth game to go 5-3 ahead and then served out the second set.
The 36-year-old rushed the net more frequently in the second set to put pressure on Kecmanovic. The 22-year-old Serb, meanwhile, continued his struggles to hit through Djokovic.
#3 Djokovic's clinical performance in the third set finishes the contest
Djokovic continued his good run in the third set as well and broke Kecmanovic in the third and seventh games of it. However, with Djokovic leading 5-2, Kecmanovic made a brief comeback of sorts to win two consecutive games to reduce the deficit to 4-5. Djokovic then served out the match easily to move into the Round of 16.
Kecmanovic tried a few different tactics in the final set, but Djokovic had an answer to each. The six-time champion took the ball early with his forehand when Kecmanovic played his shots deep and came up with effective lobs when the latter played drop shots to drag him into the net.
Sit back and enjoy...
@DjokerNole playing cat and mouse with his compatriot
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Moreover, Kecmanovic often played his shots long to hand Djokovic quite a few easy points. Kecmanovic committed 27 unforced errors in the match against Djokovic’ 19. The World No. 3, meanwhile, was very aggressive to finish with 36 winners, with the majority coming off his forehand.
Djokovic’s first serve ratio remained a modest 50% at the end of the match, but he succeeded in winning 88% of the points off his first serve. Kecmanovic, in comparison, ended with a first serve ratio 57% and could only win 39% of the points off his second serve.