At the Banja Luka Open, Novak Djokovic overcame a set deficit to defeat Luca Van Assche of France 6-7 6-3 6-2, while Cameron Norrie triumphed at the Barcelona Open.
After being eliminated early from the Monte Carlo Masters by the Italian Lorenzo Musetti last Thursday, Djokovic was hoping to avoid another early exit. Nevertheless, the 18-year-old Van Assche gave Djokovic a scare.
The 35-year-old Djokovic saw Van Assche, who eliminated Stan Wawrinka in the previous round, break to lead at 5-4 in the opening set after claiming his elbow injury was “not in optimum shape” prior to the match.
Although world No. 87 Van Assche forced a tiebreak, which he won to grab an unexpected lead, Djokovic broke back right after.
However, Djokovic exhibited composure and power in the final two games, dropping just two serve points to win the first set 6-3.
Van Assche broke in the opening game of the decider, but Djokovic immediately broke back — this time earning a time penalty for sluggish play — and went on to win 6-2, saving him from suffering back-to-back losses.
Norrie wins the Barcelona Open; Evans will compete later on Wednesday.
With a 6-1 6-2 victory against qualifier Pavel Kotov, British No. 1 Cameron Norrie advanced to the Barcelona Open third round.
Norrie ranked 13 in the world, defeated Russian Kotov, rated 108, twice in each set, to win the lopsided match in one hour and fifteen minutes.
In the following round, Norrie will take against either Jason Kubler from Australia or Musetti from Italy.
Dan Evans of the United Kingdom is also competing in Barcelona and will later on Wednesday play Matteo Arnaldi of Italy.
Whereas Pedro Cachin was defeated easily by Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-2 to start his season.
The 69th-ranked Argentine was defeated by Tsitsipas, who did not face a break point and successfully converted all three of his own.
Jannik Sinner, the fourth-seeded player, defeated Diego Schwartzman 6-2, 6-4 to earn his 25th tour-level victory of the year.
Sinner started his clay-court season by making it to the last four in Monte Carlo, the semi-finals in Indian Wells, the final in Miami, and other tournaments.
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