French Open 2022: 3 things that stood out in Novak Djokovic's 2R win over Alex Molcan
Top seed Novak Djokovic defeated Alex Molcan 6-2, 6-3, 7-6(4) in the second round of the 2022 French Open on Wednesday. The 35-year-old Serb will take on Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia in the third round on Friday.
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Djokovic, the defending champion, showed glimpses of his best tennis against Molcan. The Serb raced through the first two sets and held his nerve in the tie-break in the third to complete a straight-sets win.
On that note, here's a look at three things that stood out in the match:
#1 Djokovic's tactics were on point in the first set
Djokovic did not have to toil too much in the first set as he broke Molcan twice. The Serb played a lot of loopy shots to push Molcan far behind the baseline. Djokovic followed it up with deft drop shots to keep the Slovakian guessing.
The tactic paid off initially, but midway through the first set, Molcan started putting more power behind his shots. However, he often dropped them short, allowing the Serb to hit clean winners with his forehand.
#2 Molcan improved in the second set, but Djokovic was a cut above
Molcan improved considerably in the second set, as he managed more depth in his strokes. He also rushed the net more often to try and take Djokovic out of his comfort zone.
But the tactic did not really reap rewards as he failed to move the Serb from side to side. Djokovic continued to dictate the rallies from the baseline and looked untroubled for the most part.
#3 Djokovic held his nerve towards the closing stages as Molcan's error count escalated
Djokovic broke Molcan in the third game of the third set, but the Slovakian broke back immediately to level the score. The two players then held serve for the remainder of the set to force a tie-break.
Molcan had a chance to go ahead at 2-2 in the tie-break, but saw his forehand clip the net chord and land outside the tramlines to give the Serb the lead. Djokovic capitalized on that opportunity and eventually won the tie-break 7-4. Although the Serb got a little tight towards the end, he was able to bank on his experience to pull him through in straight sets.
Molcan finished the match with 31 winners. However, he also committed 34 unforced errors against Djokovic’s 19. The World No. 1, on the other hand, was clinical and managed to hit 40 winners, with the majority coming off his forehand. The Serb also fired 10 aces and won more than 70% of the points on his serve in the match.
Also Check Out :- French Open 2022 Results