Djokovic is tested but prevails in Banja Luka opener

Novak Djokovic battled back from a set down to beat French teenager Luca Van Assche 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-2 in his opening match in Banja Luka yesterday.
The world number one squandered three set points in the opener before Van Assche took the tie-break, but Djokovic broke twice in the second set to force a deciding set.
He dropped serve right away to start the third set but then broke Van Assche twice in a row, with Djokovic grasping control to eventually put away his 18-year-old opponent.
“It wasn’t easy. This probably will rank as the slowest court and slowest conditions I’ve ever played in. I didn’t expect this to be so slow,” said Djokovic.
“I couldn’t put any ball past him. He was on every single ball for a set and a half until I started to get some rhythm going and some tempo.”
He added: “I’m happy with the way I finished the match. Of course I can always play better but a win is a win.”
Former French Open junior champion Van Assche, the youngest player in the world’s top 100 at number 87, had served Djokovic ample warning of his potential by beating Stan Wawrinka in round one.
Djokovic said on Monday his elbow was not in “ideal condition” following a third-round exit last week at the Monte Carlo Masters, during which he was broken eight times by Lorenzo Musetti.
Van Assche earned the first break of the match for a 5-4 lead but failed to serve out for the set. He then saved three set points at 5-6 before eventually taking a surprise lead.
For the second set Djokovic disposed of the black compression sleeve on his right arm he also wore in Monaco, sweeping through without offering Van Assche a single break opportunity.
Despite falling behind to begin the third set, Djokovic recovered swiftly and sealed victory after two hours and 38 minutes. The Serb, who is bidding for a record 23rd men’s Grand Slam title at the French Open next month, will play countryman Dusan Lajovic or Gregoire Barrere of France in the quarter-finals.

Tsitsipas eases into Barcelona third round
Stefanos Tsitsipas cruised into the last 16 of the Barcelona Open yesterday with a straight-sets win over Argentina’s Pedro Cachin. Second seed Tsitsipas, twice a Barcelona runner-up to Rafael Nadal in 2018 and 2021, needed just 78 minutes to beat Cachin 6-4, 6-2.
“Obviously, good memories are in the back of my head. It’s two finals (in Barcelona), but still you keep the positives instead of sticking too much to what went wrong,” said Tsitsipas. “I’m just happy to be here.
“I’m just enjoying the tennis and hoping ‘Why not?’ for the final, but still a very long way to go.”
The Greek broke in the fifth game of the opening set and twice more at the start of the second set against his 69th-ranked opponent.
Tsitsipas, whose bid for a third consecutive Monte Carlo Masters title was ended in the quarter-finals last week, will next play Denis Shapovalov.
Fourth seed Jannik Sinner beat Diego Schwartzman 6-2, 6-4 to set up a third-round meeting with Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka.
Karen Khachanov saw off Chile’s Nicolas Jarry in two sets and awaits Dan Evans, who halted the run of Italian qualifier Matteo Arnaldi.
Lorenzo Musetti, who knocked out Novak Djokovic in Monte Carlo, dispatched Australian Jason Kubler 6-3, 6-1, as Grigor Dimitrov and Francisco Cerundolo also eased through the second round.
Top seed and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz faces fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut today for a place in the last eight.