Playing his first match as a married man, Mr. Novak Djokovic survives a tough second round match against the Frenchman Gael Monfils in the Toronto Rogers Cup. The recent Wimbledon champion needed three sets to defeat Monfils, after winning 6-2, 6-7, 7-6 in 2 hours and 40 minutes.
Djokovic, a three-time Rogers cup champion, took the first set comfortably, with a 78% first serve percentage and serving 5 aces.
However,in the second set Monfils looked much stronger and more comfortable on centre court. It started at 1-0, when Djokovic hit a return winner that landed right on the baseline and proceeded with a yell after he won the point. In response, Monfils gave him a sarcastic smile and a long look, before throwing a fierce forehand for a winner. From that point on, the match was a battle. Both men took the set to a tiebreak, where Monfils was able to find some extra motivation winning the second set 7-4 in the tiebreak.
In the decider set, Djokovic suffered a three-game to-one deficit. However, he was able to break Monfil back and take the set once again to another tiebreak. Fortunately for Novak, the tiebreak this time it was much more lopsided. Djokovic won the tiebreak 7-2 with a beautiful forehand winner down the line.
In the 3rd round, the world number 1 is set to play another Frenchman Jo-Wilfred Tsonga. And by avoiding what could’ve been the biggest upset of the tournament, Djokovic kept alive the hopes of facing the eight-seeded Andy Murray in the quarter-finals. Murray had little trouble dispatching the 19-year-old Nick Krygios, winning 6-2, 6-2 in the first match of the day on centre court.