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Reigning world number one Novak Djokovic was thrilled after beating Russian Roman Safiullin in straight sets at the Monte Carlo Masters on April 9. The victory for Djokovic was followed after third seed Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from the event due to injury. Having received a bye in the opening round, Djokovic displayed dominance on the main Rainier III court as he clinched a 6-1, 6-2 victory against the unseeded Russain. With this win, he made his way through to Round 3 where he will fight against Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti.
It was a pretty flawless performance from Djokovic all around as he earned 19 break points chances and broke five times in all. He did not give Safiullin a single chance to break his serve.
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My feeling was great: Djokovic
After the match, Djokovic said that it’s been one of the best performances he had here in quite a few years.
"My feeling was great. I think it's an accurate judgment from the people that it's been one of the best performances I had here in quite a few years," Djokovic said after the game.
When asked if he’s scared to face another Italian after his defeats to Sinner and Nardi.
"I'm not scared of anything or anybody,” Djokovic replied.
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'It's just the beginning of the tournament': Djokovic
"Monte-Carlo is the first big tournament of the clay court season. You know, I haven't been really able the last six, seven years to start off strong and start off well. I've always kind of struggled in this tournament," Djokovic said.
"But again, it's just the beginning of the tournament. It's one match. I'm going to hope to work tomorrow to maintain that rhythm and focus, obviously try to perform as well as I did in the second match as well as I did today," Djokovic added.
Djokovic had a forgettable outing last time at Monte Carlo as he fell to Musetti 6-4, 5-7, 4-6 in the Round of 16 after beating Ivan Gakhov in straight sets.
Meanwhile, the 36-year-old Djokovic surpassed Roger Federer's record to become the oldest World No. 1. He completed 420 weeks on top of the ATP rankings and outclassed Roger Federer 301 weeks way behind. He bagged the US Open last year and sits at the top of the ATP rankings.
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