World No.1 Novak Djokovic beat his compatriot Filip Krajinovic 7-6 (6) 6-3 in the opening round at the Austrian Open on Wednesday.
The Serbian tennis icon was disappointed after losing to Rafael Nadal at the French Open and said it was hard to play against Krajinovic as they regularly train together.
“I was lucky in the first set. We are good friends, we train a lot together and it is never easy to play someone that you are very close to,” Djokovic said.
“He is a very nice guy and I have known him since he was very young. I followed him, I tried to be there as a friend, as a mentor. We go back a long way.
“We practised a few times together before coming to Vienna. The draw was tough for us to face each other, but there is always extra pressure and importance to a match when you play someone that you know very well.” Djokovic added.
Djokovic dropped a 0-6 set in the French Open 2020 final as he lost in straight sets against the Spaniard Rafael Nadal. He did not play badly in the final but it took him 55 minutes before he registered his first game in what turned out to be a mauling.
Stefanos Tsitsipas on the other hand, was the only one of the top five – all from the top eight in the world rankings – to need three sets for his first round win. In the end there was a 6: 7 (3), 6: 3, 6: 4 against the German Jan-Lennard Struff.
Now the 22-year-old will be relaunching the French Open round of 16 against Grigor Dimitrov. He gave the Bulgarian the role of favourite, saying that he himself is happy about a good start to the indoor season.
