Novak Djokovic survived an early scare in his debut match as the World No. 1, coming from a double-break down to defeat Russian Nikolay Davydenko7-5, 6-1 Wednesday at theRogers Cup in Montreal.
Playing his first match since winning Wimbledon and ascending to No. 1 in the South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings, Djokovic looked in danger of losing just his second match of the season as he fell behind 1-4 against the former World No. 3.
Davydenko was unable to maintain his advantage, however, as Djokovic drew level at 4-all. The Serbian broke Davydenko for a third time to secure the opening set and rolled through the second set with ease, preventing the Russian from winning a single service game.
"He didn't give me a lot of rhythm in the start of the match," said Djokovic. "I didn't play a match for four weeks. It took me some time to get used to the conditions, get into the match. I needed to hang in there. I needed to wait for the chances. I did. I turned the match around on 4-1 when I broke him the first time. Then I felt much more comfortable."
Djokovic won this ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title on his tournament debut in 2007, defeating the ATP's top three players - No. 3 Andy Roddick, No. 2 Rafael Nadal and No. 1 Roger Federer - in succession.
He is undefeated in Masters 1000 action this season, winning titles at the first four he's contested. His only loss this season (49-1) came against Federer in the Roland Garros semi-finals.
He reflected on his new status as the ATP's top player, "Being No. 1 is a big responsibility, not just on the court but off the court as well. Just trying to handle it in the best possible way, but on the other side trying to keep my life very simple, the way it was before.
"I haven't changed my approach to my profession, to the sport, to my practices, to my matches. This is the way it is supposed to stay. Luckily I have a team of people that is keeping me on the ground and we are really working hard. I am motivated to make more success and to win more tournaments regardless of my ranking."
Djokovic will play Marin Cilic in the third round after the Croatian ousted 2009 US Openchampion and No. 16 seed Juan Martin del Potro6-3, 6-4 by taking advantage of his two break point opportunities. Cilic won 93 per cent of his first serve points during the one-hour, 23-minute match to narrowly defeat del Potro for the second time in five career meetings.
Courtesy: ATPWorldTour
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