STRETCHED: Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns the ball to Mikhail Youzhny of Russia during their second-round clash at the Monte Carlo Masters tournament yesterday.

Reuters/Monte Carlo

Novak Djokovic’s gamble to test his injured ankle at the Monte Carlo Masters appeared to be backfiring but he dug his heels in to battle past Russian Mikhail Youzhny 4-6 6-1 6-4 in the second round yesterday.

While Djokovic grimaced and growled as he played through the pain barrier to fight back from 0-4 down in the opening set, Rafa Nadal was all smiles after he launched his bid for a ninth consecutive Monte Carlo crown with a ruthless 6-1 6-2 win over Australian Marinko Matosevic.

World number one Djokovic, who sprained his ankle while on Davis Cup duty 10 days ago, made a late call to participate in the tournament which is held in his adopted home town and was relieved to have survived his first match on clay this season.

“I’m not 100 percent because of my physical issue but I’m still in the draw. I live here. Everything’s alright,” Djokovic said in a courtside interview in French.

During a training session on Tuesday, Djokovic avoided putting too much pressure on his stricken right ankle but he did not have that luxury yesterday when Youzhny made him chase the ball around the court.

Once Djokovic levelled for 4-4, he relied on his greater weight of shot to see him through the tricky encounter. Following an exchange of breaks in the third set, Djokovic broke decisively in the ninth game and sent Youzhny packing with an ace on match point.

Third-seed Nadal’s outing more straightforward as he returned from a month-long break to record his 43rd victory in a row at the principality. The Spaniard, who is being more selective with his schedule this year after being out of action for seven months with knee problems following a shock second-round exit at Wimbledon last year, was loudly cheered by the packed crowd and was never seriously threatened by his Australian opponent.  

Matosevic opened a 2-0 lead in the second set but Nadal reeled off the next six to set up a meeting with 16th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany.

The world number five announced his comeback by winning three of his first four tournaments, including the Indian Wells Masters Series last month, and is favourite to continue his reign here.

In earlier action, Tomas Berdych had to recover from a break down in each set to move past Spaniard Marcel Granollers 7-5 6-4. Canadian Milos Raonic failed to set up a big-serving clash with Juan Martin Del Potro when he was beaten by Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen 6-3 1-6 7-6.

 

 

 

Below: Rafael Nadal of Spain makes a return to Marinko Matosevic of Australia during their second-round clash. (EPA/Reuters)