Djokovic Narrowly Escapes Simon In Monte-Carlo

Apr182017

Serbian avoids early Monte-Carlo upset

Gilles Simon came close, but there will be no shocking second-round upset against Novak Djokovic this year at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. The second seed battled and eventually fought off the Frenchman 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 to move into the third round of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event.

The two-time champion (2013, 2015) improved to 11-1 against Simon in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. The 29 year old will next meet #NextGenATP player Karen Khachanov of Russia or 13^th seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain.

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The second-round contest was Djokovic’s first ATP World Tour match since falling to Nick Kyrgios in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open more than a month ago, on 15 March. The Serbian withdrew from the Miami Open presented by Itau because of a right elbow injury but did return to tour-level action earlier this month, dismissing Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas in straight sets during Davis Cup play in Serbia.

Last year, after earning his fourth Sunshine Double in the U.S., Djokovic fell in the Monte-Carlo second round to then-World No. 55 Jiri Vesely, who celebrated his first Top 10 win and handed Djokovic only his second loss of the season.

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