Novak Djokovic races past Cristian Garin in Astana Open to meet Van de Zandschulp in second round
Oct 06, 2022
Astana [Kazakhstan], October 6 : Novak Djokovic delivered an ominous opening display on Wednesday at the Astana Open, where the fourth seed breezed past Cristian Garin in just 62 minutes at the ATP 500 event.
Djokovic maintained his impressive level in a near-flawless performance to register a 6-1, 6-1 win over Cristian Garin.
The Serbian was in control from the start, finding consistency and accuracy with his groundstrokes to keep Garin under pressure as he converted five from eight breakpoints.
"From the start to the end, [it was] a great performance," said Djokovic after the match as quoted by ATP.com.
"Playing in a new tournament, different conditions, the first match is never easy. Obviously, you are looking to see how you are going to adapt, but I did it perfectly, really, played as well as I can. I just made him work and used every opportunity that was presented to me," he added.
"I was lucky that throughout my career I was actually pretty quick in adjusting to different conditions and surfaces," said Djokovic.
"But I think that experience helps in knowing what to do. But [also] winning a tournament, [as opposed to] losing in a final or semis, makes a difference mentally. Coming into this tournament I feel confident, I feel excited, I feel motivated, so I think that helps as well to adjust quickly," he stated further.
The Serbian's next opponent in Astana as he chases his fourth tour-level title of the season will be World No. 34 Botic van de Zandschulp.
In Wednesday's only second-round action in the bottom half of the draw, Roberto Bautista Agut backed up his first-round upset of Felix Auger-Aliassime with a 6-1, 7-6(5) triumph against Pavel Kotov.
