Day 2 of the French Open went as expected for most stars in the world of tennis. There have been no shockers as Carlos Alcaraz, Frances Tiafoe, Cam Norrie, and others advanced past their competition. No matchup has been more intriguing than that of Novak Djokovic and Aleksandar Kovacevic.
The 24-year-old Kovacevic had to face the 22-time major winner in the first round. Kovacevic was obliterated in the first two sets of the match. In Set 1, the Serbian legend deflated him as the scoreline favored Djokovic 6-3. Set 2 was worse for the deflated youngster as he would lose 6-2.
Aleksandar Kovacevic would show some heart as he came alive for the last set. He rallied and kept the ball alive against Djokovic. In the end, Novak's win was inevitable as he got the sweep, 7-6. Although the results were expected, Kovacevic's post-game statement raised eyebrows.
“It’s definitely intimidating. Watching him on TV growing up, it’s hard not to look past that and knowing what he’s accomplished. But from a tennis standpoint, it’s not otherworldly,” said the 101st-ranked singles tennis player after the loss, per Howard Fendrich of AP Sports.
Dominant performances are Novak Djokovic's bread and butter. He has a winning percentage of up to 80% on all courts and this win does not come as a shock. However, Aleksandar Kovacevic is not as convinced.
“The things he does well, he does unbelievably well, but the ball that he hits — it’s not blowing me completely off the court, which was honestly somewhat surprising,” says Kovacevic as he thought Djokovic would deliver a more dominant victory.
With another French Open win, Novak Djokovic has a chance to usurp Carlos Alcaraz for the number one spot in the ATP rankings.
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