3 talking points from Novak Djokovic's 2r win over Jan-Lennard Struff at Olympics 2021
World No. 1 and 20-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic overcame a stiff competitor in Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff on Monday to advance to the third round at the Tokyo Olympics 2021.
Djokovic had a tough start, but he got into his groove by the middle of the first set. The Serb eventually raced his way past Struff in an hour and 14 minutes to reach the Round of 16, where he will take on Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Novak Djokovic showed everyone exactly why he is the best player in the world with his performance against Jan-Lennard Struff in the second round. He was able to switch from defense to attack when needed, producing some powerful winners himself to counter Struff's big hitting.
Djokovic is now just four wins away from winning the elusive gold medal and getting closer to achieving the Golden Calendar Slam. On that note, let's take a look at three talking points from his win over Struff.
#1 Jan-Lennard Struff struggled to stay with Novak Djokovic in the crunch moments
Jan-Lennard Struff got off to a good start, fighting toe-to-toe with Novak Djokovic in the first eight games of the first set. The German was attacking well, approaching the net a lot and producing some big winners, particularly off the forehand side.
But Struff eventually succumbed to scoreboard pressure, leaking a couple of errors while serving at 4-5 to lose the set.
In the second set as well, Struff wasn't able to produce his attacking brand of tennis in the big moments. That led to Djokovic breaking him twice, snuffing out any hopes the German had of causing an upset.
#2 Novak Djokovic's serve was on point
Novak Djokovic's serve has seemingly been improving with every match. He served a total of 14 aces against Struff and had a high first-serve percentage of 71%, compared to just 61% in the first round.
It was vital that Djokovic served well against Struff, given how big the German serves himself. Despite getting broken once in the second set, Djokovic didn't lose his nerve and was able to gain the break back in the very next game.
The Serb faced just just two break points in the entire match.
#3 Novak Djokovic's break-point conversion rate showed an improvement
In the first round, Novak Djokovic managed to convert just four out of the 10 break points he got against Hugo Dellien. But on Monday he was aware that his opponent wouldn't give him too many chances to break, and so he ensured that he made the most of the chances he got.
Djokovic converted all three break points he got against the big-serving German, and that was the biggest difference-maker on the day. If the Serb continues to put up such strong numbers on the return, his status as the favorite for the gold medal will get even stronger.