Defending champion Novak Djokovic got his 2017 season underway with a hard fought 7-6(1), 6-3 win over Jan-Lennard Struff in the first round of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. The world number two will face either Florian Mayer or Horacio Zeballos in the second round.
Struff came out firing, troubling Djokovic from the outset with deep hitting and an unreadable serve. The German looked to be in control at 5-1 but Djokovic began to find his range and started serving a lot better. The momentum switched as Struff was rattled by Djokovic's turnaround, the Serb taking both breaks back to send the pair into a tiebreak. Djokovic dominated the tiebreak to complete his incredible comeback and secure the first set, with the loss of only one point in the breaker. Struff fought well in the second set, but Djokovic was too good as he sealed the win with two breaks in the second set giving him a place in the second round.
Back from the brink
Djokovic started slowly as he served to begin the match, with Struff fighting his way from 30-0 to 30-30. A double fault from the defending champion handed the German an early break point opportunity and another error from the Serb after more rushing groundstrokes from Struff gave the world number sixty-three an early break. Good serving from Struff and a couple of missed returns from Djokovic consolidated the break and easily and handed the German a 2-0 lead.
Struff continued to trouble Djokovic in the next return game, with deep hitting drawing an error from the Serb on the opening point. Another two surprising misses from the defending champion gave Struff a look at another three break points, with only one being needed for the German to take a surprise two break lead. The world number two was still unable to read Struff's serve as he sailed through another hold to go 4-0 ahead.
The German took his ninth point in a row on the return as he fired a forehand down the line winner to take the lead again. Djokovic recovered, with better serving seeing him through his first hold of the match. There were better signs from the Serb at the beginning of the next return game as he came out on top of his best rally of the match, but huge serving from Struff got him through another hold to go one game away from taking the opening set.
The defending champion continued to improve as he raced through an impressive love hold to force Struff to serve for the set. Much better returning seen the defending champion earn his first break points of the match, taking the second to reduce the deficit to one break. Djokovic came through another good hold to claw back from 5-1 to 5-4, with one opportunity left for Struff to secure the set.
Djokovic took a lead on the return as a backhand into the net followed by a reckless forehand wide from Struff left him in a 0-30 hole. The longer Djokovic was able to keep the rally going, the more likely it was that he would win the point as Struff went for bigger shots to try and break through his defense and too often missed. Another break followed by a quick hold for the defending champion took him into the lead for the first time in the match.
An impressive hold from Struff gave him his first hold in six games to take the pair into a tiebreak. Djokovic played a near perfect tiebreak, Struff's only point coming with a missed return from the Serb, to claim the first set with an incredible comeback. Turning the set around from 1-5 down to take the set 7-6(1).
Defending champion into round two
Djokovic kept his momentum rolling into the second set as he broke immediately to take an early lead. The lead was in danger just as quickly as Struff earned himself three break points with the help of a double fault from Djokovic. A string of errors from the German took the Serb through the danger to deuce, with a scorching forehand down the line winner bringing up game point. Djokovic came away with the hold to take a 2-0 lead.
A grueling game on Struff's serve seen a break point come and go for Djokovic, a great backhand volley securing the crucial hold that kept the German within one break of the defending champion. The Serb started off slowly on serve again but fought back from 0-30 down as he held on to his lead at 3-1.
Struff was having to fight hard to earn his holds of serve but continued to do so, much to the frustration of Djokovic. Another good hold for the German kept him in touch. There was no luck for Struff on the return as Djokovic came through another easy hold for 4-2. The Serb then fought from 15-40 to break point on return, but a smash winner from Struff got him out of danger. Solid play at the net took the German through another well-fought hold to keep hope alive.
An ace followed by a perfect forehand down the line winner seen Djokovic through another love hold to go a game away from the win. Great returning gave the defending champion two match points to close it out on the German's serve. An ace from Struff saved the first but a forehand winner from the Serb on the second gave Djokovic the second set 6-3 and a place in the second round.