Djoko survives Struff scare, Murray beaten in doubles

It was a stumble out of the blocks that could have proved costly. But then again, such a scenario would have been ‘just another day at the job’ for Novak Djokovic.At the Qatar ExxonMobil Open yesterday, the defending champion was down 1-5 in the first set during his opening match against Jan-Lennard Struff. The German, ranked world No. 63, had come out attacking and this had unsettled Djokovic. But then the gears clicked and the Serb won five games in a row to snuff out the possibility of a challenge. There was a minor hiccup when Struff won the 12th game to make it 6-6. But Djokovic dominated the tie-breaker, and took the first set. With this fightback under his belt, the spectators at the Khalifa Complex knew that the second set would be a mere formality for Djokovic. And it was. The world No. 2 won his first match 7-6 (1), 6-3 to register his first win of 2017.“I needed more time to get the engine started I guess. It’s my first match of the year. You never know how you’re going to start,” said Djokovic. “As well as you have trained in the preparation period and the days prior to the tournament, it’s a different scenario when you are out there on the courts amidst the crowd,” he added.Djokovic acknowledged that the aggressive approach from Struff helped in his opponent gaining the initial upper hand. “I was a bit flat on my feet, and Struff, credit to him for playing aggressive, hitting the serves well, and ripping the ball from the baseline. Also things were coming in, so that resulted in a 1-5 deficit.”And then, just like we have seen him do in the past, his fighter instinct kicked in and Struff had to concede. “I stayed composed because I knew, I believed that I could find the rhythm. I started reading his serve better, and that’s what happened,” added Djokovic. “I can certainly play better. But, again, it’s first match of the year. I know that I can’t be at my top the very first match, but I believe that the process is right.” Djokovic said that it was his previous experience in such situations that helped him emerge victorious. “In these particular circumstances, you just need to find a way. I’ve been in these situations before many times in my life, and I think the experience of knowing what to do, you know, in what particular moment helps.”He credited the ‘return’ of his return of serve, which helped him claw back from a huge four-game deficit. “I was returning very well from 2-5 down. To the end of the match the return was going quite well. I also served well at the important moments, including the tiebreak. So, there are positives to take,” he said. “I just focus on the process of continuing my training each day and getting myself in a better shape as the tournament progresses.” Djokovic’s next opponent will be Argentine Horacio Zeballos, who caused an upset by defeating German Florian Mayer 6-7(3), 6-4, 7-6 (9) in a keenly contested battle, especially the third set tie-breaker. Zeballos in currently ranked 71st while Mayer is at 50.The biggest casualty yesterday though was eighth seed Marcos Baghdatis. The Cyrpus player retired from his match against qualifier Radek Stepanek with the scoreline at 6-4, 5-3.The other seeded player in action yesterday, ended up in the winners’ column. Fourth seed David Goffin endured a tough first set against Robin Haase but ended up victorious 7-6(4), 6-2.“I was happy to win the first set. It was not an easy set. It was really slow conditions tonight with the humidity. That’s why it was not easy to play fast like I used to do,” said Goffin yesterday. “But at the end, I’m really happy with the way I fought in the first set. Then I won the first set and was much better in the second.” From Qatar’s perspective, local boy Mubarak Shannan Zayid partnering Tunisian Malek Jaziri, lost their doubles first round match to the French team of Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin 2-6, 3-6. But Zayid has received a wild card into the singles main round and will take on Russian Karen Khachanov today.World No. 1 Andy Murray, partnering Poland’s Mariusz Fyrstenberg, lost 2-6, 4-6 to the Spanish-Serbian pairing of David Morreno and Nenad Zimonjic. From Murray’s perspective, it will be a good way to get some court practice. The Brit will be in action today against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in his opening round singles match.