Novak gets campaign underway in fine style

Consistency is more important than world rankings, world No 4 Novak Djokovic of Serbia said yesterday after winning his first-round match against Victor Hanescu of Romania, 6-3, 7-5, at the China Open.

"Rankings matter a lot, obviously, but it's very important not to pay too much attention to the rankings because then you just lose your focus on something you have to do play well on the court," said the tournament's second seed.

"I've been playing at the highest level over the past three or four years and at every major event, so I know what is required. It's a matter of consistency, especially these days when you have (Andrew) Murray, (Rafael) Nadal, (Roger) Federer and (Juan Martin) del Porto as your main opponents and rivals for the top spots in the world. They are playing so well and so consistent and in order to keep up you have to do the same and even better."

In his opening match against Hanescu, Djokovic rained down 10 aces in a performance which lasted less than 90 minutes.

But his victory didn't come easily as his grip on the racquet loosened at a key point in the second set.

"It was a little frustrating the way I was losing some points in the second set," he said.

"It's not the first time it (a loose grip) has happened but I hope it is the last because it's certainly not comfortable. Unfortunately, my hands sweat a lot and sometimes it happens even though I don't want it to."

In the first set, a few ill-timed errors from the 28-year-old Romanian gave Djokovic the break to go up 4-2 and he cruised from there thanks to powerful serving and pinpoint ground strokes.

The pair remained on serve throughout much of the second set but Djokovic claimed the upper hand on the world No 27 with a late break to go up 6-5, and then served out the match, ending it with a cross-court forehand winner.

"I was happy overall with the way I played. It's just that I thought I could have finished the job earlier," Djokovic said.

"It was just a little bit frustrating the way I was losing points in the second set. I think I had chances in every game but, you know, that's the first round. You have to get used to the ups and downs a little bit and hopefully in the next match I'll be more consistent."

In other first-round men's action, Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated Ivo Karlovic, 7-6 (8/6), 4-6, 6-1, despite the big-serving Croat's 27 aces. France's Julien Benneteau advanced, beating Brazil's Marcos Daniel, 6-3, 6-4.

Tommy Robredo of Spain was also a straight sets winner against Benjamin Becker of Germany, 6-2 6-1.

Top seed Rafael Nadal, who won the China Open in 2005 and claimed Olympic gold at the same venue last year, plays his opening match against Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus today.

Former World No 1 Marat Safin of Russia will also start his China Open campaign today, facing Jose Acasuso from Argentina. The Russian, who is set to retire, was given a wildcard to take part in the $3.33 million ATP 500 event capital and has decided to hold his farewell party here.

(China Daily 10/06/2009 page12)