ATP Finals 2020 - Novak Djokovic kickstarts campaign by powering past Diego Schwartzman

ByEurosport

Updated 16/11/2020 at 17:15 GMT

Novak Djokovic recovered from a stutterting start to power past Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-2 to begin his quest for a record-equalling sixth ATP Finals title in style. The year-end world no 1 is also drawn against Daniil Medvedev and and Alexander Zverev in the round-robin stage of the competition, which is in London for the final time.

Novak Djokovic got his ATP Finals campaign off to a strong start with a 6-3, 6-2 win over tournament debutant Diego Schwartzman.

After the pair traded routine holds to start the match, Schwartzman made the first move, capitalising on an error-strewn Djokovic service game to draw first blood. His lead was short-lived, with the Serb peppering his opponent's forehand to break back.

Schwartzman was undeterred and continued to make inroads on the Djokovic serve, but without success. Receiving at 4-3, the world No 1 made his move, getting the decisive break before closing out the first set without issue.

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He carried that momentum into the second set, wining the first two games at a canter to make it five games in a row.

Schwartzman was able to stem the flow there, but Djokovic was well into the swing of things.

A second break followed to make it 4-1 in the second, and though the Argentine was able to restore a bit of pride by winning his fifth game of the encounter, there was no stopping the Australian Open

"The beginning of the match wasn't so great for me," he said in his on-court interview.

"He broke my serve in the third game but I managed to break back. It was a close encounter until I broke his serve at 4-3 and managed to close out the first set.

"Second set, I started swinging through the ball a bit more, a bit less hesitation from both corners. I was very pleased with how I played in the second set especially.

"It's tough for Diego, it's his debut, his first match, he probably wasn't playing his best in the closing moments of the first set.

"But it was a good opening match and I'm looking forward to the next challenge."

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Djokovic also said it was surreal to be back playing at the O2, which routinely sells out every day of the ATP Finals, with no fans present and England in a national lockdown.

"I've been playing the ATP Finals in this arena for many years and I've been blessed to experience some incredible matches and atmospheres and I must say it feels very strange to play in front of empty stands."

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