Novak Djokovic won the second consecutive match at the Serbia Open, when he defeated fellows Miomir Kecmanovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the Belgrade quarterfinals on last Thursday.
Djokovic has not lost to his junior since 2012. He increased his winning streak to 10 matches, losing only four of 27 times against Serbian players since the beginning of his career. In tournaments taking place in his home country, the world number won 36 and lost six matches.
Djokovic played the quarterfinals less than a day after spending three and a half hours beating Laslo Djere in the second round.
He got off to a difficult start against seventh seed Kecmanovic as he lost his second serve game, trailing 3-1 then 4-2.
Kecmanovic kept the game so well that Djokovic did not have a break-point in the first set. The 38 ATP player missed two set-points in the last game, but still won 6-4.
Serving has been a problem for Djokovic since the beginning of the clay season. He only had a 55 percent one-to-one serve rate in the second set, continuing to lose his break-point first. But, he returned in time in the next ball game to maintain the balance to the score 3-3.
Returning serve and attacking fiercely helped Djokovic take advantage of the second break-point in game eight, taking a 5-3 lead and ending the set with a serve game later. This score was repeated in the third set, when Djokovic won the last three games with a dominant position.
“Thanks to my team. Thanks to them, I feel so much better than yesterday. Playing with my countrymen is a strange feeling, but full of excitement.” Djokovic said.
“Every year I only play once or twice in Serbia and get it. great support. I’ll try to enjoy the tournament for a long time.” he added.
Djokovic next plays third-seeded Karen Khachanov, who defeated Brazilian qualifier Thiago Monteiro 7-5, 6-4.
The 34-year-old made the last-eight in Dubai in February and then lost his opening match at the Monte Carlo Masters last week.
