Djokovic drops set but battles to opening Indian Wells victory
Novak Djokovic overcame an opening-round scare from Kamil Majchrzak on Saturday at the BNP Paribas Open, where he rallied from behind to earn a hard-fought 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory in Indian Wells.
Battling gusty winds in the California desert, Djokovic showed signs of rustiness at times in his first match since he lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the Australian Open final at the start of February. The 38-year-old Serbian struggled to find rhythm from the baseline in the first set, but found greater consistency and potency in his groundstrokes in the latter stages to force his way past Majchrzak, who has long admired the 101-time tour-level titlist.
“It [has] been very challenging lately for me in Indian Wells,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview. “It has been hard for me to find my A-game, particularly in the beginning of the tournament in the past seven or eight years. I am glad to overcome a challenge.
“Kamil is a very solid player. He doesn’t have tremendous power but he has every shot in the book and he was not afraid to come in and take the ball early. He played a great first set. I reset and started to feel better and the crowd was amazing.”
[NO 1 CLUB]Djokovic, a joint-record five-time Indian Wells champion alongside Roger Federer, has had a frustrating recent history at the event, failing to reach the fourth round since 2017. His last title at the hard-court tournament came in 2016, and in the years since, he’s fallen to Taro Daniel, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Luca Nardi, and Botic van de Zandschulp.
Saturday, though, Djokovic ensured he wouldn’t add another early exit to that list. At 38, the Serbian is the second-oldest man to reach the third round at Indian Wells, trailing only Ivo Karlovic, who advanced to that stage aged 40 in 2019.
“I find that the wind here is one of the toughest on Tour,” Djokovic added when speaking about the conditions. “With the gusts coming in and out, changing direction, it is so, so difficult. Particularly from one end of the court and it puts extra tension.”
In an entertaining, competitive clash, Majchrzak had a slice of luck to earn a break in the opening game of the first set, with a net cord handing him the advantage. He went on to claim the opener before Djokovic upped his intensity and benefited from a drop in the Pole’s level to force a third set.
Djokovic was then left flat on his back in the opening game of the decider following a 40-shot rally at 30/30. He dropped the game, but that only seemed to ignite his resolve. With renewed aggression, Djokovic broke Majchrzak’s resistance and closed out victory after two hours and 12 minutes.
Djokovic is now 7-1 on the season, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, and will next meet Aleksandar Kovacevic.
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