A win, a new home and tears: Djokovic marks Greece's return to tennis' top table with a victory

Novak Djokovic battled through a tough opening set before pulling away to defeat Chile's Alejandro Tabilo 7-6 (3), 6-1 at the Hellenic Championship on Tuesday, the first top-tier tournament held in Greece in more than 30 years.

Both players held their serve under pressure in the first set, until Djokovic edged out the tiebreaker.

The momentum shifted in the second set, where the top seed broke Tabilo twice and completed the match in just over 90 minutes.

Djokovic, 38, had lost his previous two meetings against Tabilo, a decade younger, on clay in Rome last year and Monte Carlo this season.

"Playing against Tabilo, who I had never won against, I was more under pressure before the match than some other matches, and I really tried to draw the energy from the crowd," Djokovic said.

"I feel really at home, playing in Athens," continued the 24-time Grand Slam winner who has recently moved to the Greek capital.

"A few months ago, when I came here with my family, I was very excited, because I have always loved Greece.

"Serbians love Greece, for sure. Historically, culturally, and religiously, we have a lot of things connecting us.

"Athens is in my heart, no question about it."

The world No 5, whose presence at the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin was confirmed on Monday, had the measure of the Chilean in the opening set tiebreak, and broke twice in the second set to reach his 225th tour-level quarterfinal.

Djokovic will next play Portuguese sixth-seed Nuno Borges, who rallied past American qualifier Eliot Spizzirri 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.

After his defeat in the semifinals of the Shanghai Masters 1000 against Valentin Vacherot on Oct 11, Djokovic skipped the Paris Masters, which ended on Sunday.

As elite-level tennis returned to Greece for the first time since 1994, the Telekom Center crowd in Athens offered constant support for the Serb.

Djokovic was brought to tears while watching a tribute video for Croatian tennis great Nikola Pilic, who died earlier this year.

Djokovic had trained at Pilic's academy as a teenager.

"He was more than just a mentor and a coach to me," Djokovic told the crowd. "He was part of my family — to me and my brothers, he helped so much. I definitely wouldn't be here without him."

Agencies