Italian Open 2022: 3 things that stood out in Novak Djokovic's 3R win over Stan Wawrinka
Top seed Novak Djokovic crushed Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-2 in the third round of the Italian Open on Thursday. With the win, the Serb advanced to the quarterfinals in Rome for the 16th straight time.
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Djokovic has had some great battles with Wawrinka in the past, but made short work of the Swiss on Thursday, prevailing in just over an hour.
On that note, here's a look at three things that stood out in the match:
#1 Wawrinka looked sluggish from the get-go
Djokovic raced out of the blocks with a break in the very first game of the match. Wawrinka committed a double fault on break point to allow the Serb to gain the upper hand very early in the contest.
Wawrinka, who is on the comeback trail from injury, looked extremely rusty and sluggish in his movements. He lacked explosiveness while moving from side to side and his backhand was well below its usual standards.
#2 Djokovic motored on as Wawrinka began to leak unforced errors
Djokovic built on his early lead with ruthless determination. He broke the Swiss again in the seventh game to go 5-2 up and had no problem serving out the first set, finishing with a perfect drop shot.
Djokovic's approach in the first set was quite interesting. He hit a lot of crosscourt forehands with plenty of top spin to Wawrinka's forehand wing. He also played a number of backhand slices to try and force the Swiss into playing an attacking shot. The tactic paid off as Wawrinka committed 12 unforced errors in the first set against Djokovic’s four.
#3 Djokovic served well in key moments and hit his forehand with venom
Wawrinka pressed a lot more in the second set as he attempted to put Djokovic under pressure. He succeeded in hitting 11 winners in the second set, with the majority of them coming off his forehand. However, his backhand remained below-par.
In the end, his efforts were not enough as Djokovic broke twice to go 4-1 up. However, Wawrinka staged a brief recovery by breaking the Serb in the sixth game only to drop serve once again in the seventh. Djokovic then served out the match with consummate ease.
However, it should be noted that the Swiss had multiple chances to break the Serb in the second set, but the latter managed to respond with excellent serves more often than not.
Djokovic also hit his forehand with a lot more venom in the second set as he settled into a rhythm. Djokovic finished with 15 winners, eight of them off the forehand wing. He also committed only 13 unforced errors against Wawrinka’s 23.