ATP Belgrade: Another comeback! Novak Djokovic after defeating Miomir Kecmanovic in the semifinals
Novak Djokovic has reached the semifinals of the ATP 250 tournament in Belgrade. The world number one defeated Miomir Kecmanovic 4: 6, 6: 3 and 6: 3.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Apr 21, 2022, 06:38 pm
After his more than three-hour battle against Laslo Djere, Novak Djokovic returned to the Center Court in Belgrade less than 24 hours later. As in his opening game, the world number one started weakly against Miomir Kecmanovic, so the first set went 6: 4 to the 22-year-old.
Kecmanovic was already leading with a break in the second round, but then Djokovic turned it up: the 20-time Grand Slam winner won five of the last six games in set two after being 2-1 behind and then showed himself from his in the all-important section best side.
With two breaks towards the end of the game, Djokovic left no doubts about the winner, with a backhand winner along the line worth seeing he messed up his first match ball after 2:18 hours to win 4: 6, 6: 3 and 6: 3. In the semifinals, the 34-year-old will meet Karen Khachanov or Thiago Monteiro.
Previously, the number two of the tournament, Andrey Rublev, also narrowly avoided an early exit. The Russian advanced to the last eight with a 4:6, 7:6 (1) and 6:2 win over Jiri Lehecka. Fabio Fognini and Oscar Otte also qualified for the quarterfinals .