Djokovic
On May 3, local time, the ATP Madrid Masters began the second round of the men's singles showdown, and the world's no. 1 Djokovic defeated the French star Monfils 6-3, 6-2 to win the opening goal, winning all 18 encounters with Monfils. With this victory, Djokovic continues to secure a world number one spot next week.
Djokovic said after the match that he was satisfied with the performance: "I think it was probably the best game I played this year. This is the first game of the tournament, I have ten days to prepare for this race, in order to perform well in this event, I want to do everything I can to improve my physical shortcomings, improve my technical level in all aspects. So I'm happy to see that all this hard work paid off on the field, I felt good in the game and I was moving in the right direction. ”
Murray
Djokovic will face his long-lost rival in the third round, former world number one Murray, who beat Canada's Shapovalov 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 in the second round. It will be Djokovic's 37th meeting with Murray, with the Serbian prevailing with 25 wins and 11 losses, with the last meeting between the two dating back to Doha in 2017, when Djokovic won.
This is Murray's first back-to-back victory on the Tour since the Sydney leg at the beginning of the year, and after re-working with Lendl, Murray said his training over the past few weeks has paid off: "I've trained really hard in the last four or five weeks and I've improved my level to a good level. Compared to the beginning of the year, I have made significant progress in my current movement, which has also made a qualitative change in my performance. "It gives me more options on the pitch, I'm doing a good job defensively and I think moving is the key to winning this game." He's got a lot of power and I was able to defend a lot of his shots and eventually win the game, so I'm happy about that. ”
Looking ahead to the showdown with Djokovic, Murray said: "Theoretically I have no hope of winning, he is number one in the world, and I have undergone hip replacement surgery, so I should not have any chance of winning." It's a great opportunity for me to be able to play against him and see what level I'm at right now. ”
"The two of us have had a lot of big fights over the last so many years, we've played each other in the four Grand Slam finals, we've met in the finals here, I haven't played against him for a long time, so I'm going to enjoy this showdown, give it my all and see what kind of performance I'm going to come up with."
Speaking about the reunion with his old rival Murray, Djokovic is also full of emotions: "He is now moving very well, his level is getting higher and higher, he is a very important figure in tennis, so I am very happy to see that he can have a good performance on the field. He's won several Grand Slam titles, Olympic gold medals, he's become world number one, he's already achieved unparalleled success in the sport, so it's a good thing he's still sticking to the field, and it's even more exciting to see him compete at the top, given the injuries and surgeries he's been through, his resilience and fighting spirit inspires us all. ”
Other results:
Rublev 2-6 6-4 7-5 Draper
Alcaraz 6-3 7-5 Basilashvili
Hulkach 7-5 6-7(11) 6-3 Derian
Koda 6-3 7-5 Operka
Van Dezan de Silop 6-7(6) 7-6(1) 6-3 Busta
Agut 6-0 6-2 Brooksby
Cilic 6-3 3-6 6-4 Ramos
Garin 6-1 6-3 Tiafo
Keczmanovic 6-4 7-5 Bublick
(Text, Editor/Faye Wong, Photo/Visual China)