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Defending champion of the Masters tournament in Paris, Novak Djokovic admitted that Maxime Cressy was a difficult opponent and that he felt pressure and tension because of the American at the start of the tournament. Cressy, a high-serving American who has become famous for his old school serve and volley, made Djokovic work hard but the Serb managed to escape 7-6 (1) 6-4.
“It was very intense, just a lot of pressure. When you’re playing someone who serves that well — first serve and second serve — you don’t have a lot of room to relax and maybe play some softer games. You just have to be on your toes all the time.
To his credit, he has served brilliantly in some big moments. I had my chances [in the] the first set broke it, the second too. The break came at the right time, the perfect time in fact. I was very satisfied with the way I held my serve, I didn’t have a chance to break,” Djokovic said after the match, according to the ATP website.
How did Djokovic beat Cressy?
Djokovic is considered the best returner in the world, but Cressy didn’t give him many chances on his serve. The first and only break opportunities in the first set were seen in the eighth game, when Djokovic missed three break opportunities.
After struggling for much of the first set to break the Cressy serve, Djokovic won the first set tie-break with just one point down. In the first game of the second set, Djokovic won his fourth break point of the match, but Cressy saved again to avoid falling behind with an early break in the second set.
The next break was seen in the ninth game as Djokovic took the first break of the match to take a 5-4 lead and give himself a chance to serve for the match. In the next game, Djokovic converted his first match point to set up a round of 16 meeting against the winner of the match between Karen Khachanov and Marc-Andre Huesler.
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