VIENNA: Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem overcame first-set slumps in their opening-round matches Tuesday before advancing at the Erste Bank Open.

Top-seeded Djokovic lost four straight games and had to save a set point before beating Filip Krajinovic 7-6, (8-6), 6-3 in an all-Serbian match, and second seed Thiem nearly squandered a 5-1 lead in his 6-4, 7-5 win over Vitaliy Sachko of Ukraine.

It was Djokovic’s first match since losing the French Open final to Rafael Nadal, and his first indoor tournament since the Davis Cup Finals in Madrid in November 2019.

“I hope I have many more gears above today’s level. I tried to be positive about my performance, about the game,” said Djokovic, who improved to 38-2 for the season.

Djokovic was playing in Vienna for the first time since he won the title there in 2007, and dropped serve twice in a tricky opening set.

Krajinovic served for the first set at 5-4 and then held a set point in the tie-break but couldn’t take advantage.

A couple of breaks in the second set allowed Djokovic to clinch victory. He meets Borna Coric in the second round.

Thiem faced similar struggles against the 529th-ranked Sachko. The Ukrainian made his ATP tour debut replacing Kei Nishikori, who pulled out with a shoulder injury.

The defending champion quickly went 5-1 up but lost his next two service games before breaking Sachko again at 5-4.

Thiem lost a 4-1 lead in the second set but broke Sachko once again at 6-5 with a powerful backhand passing shot.

It was the US Open champion’s 10th straight win in Austria, after winning both Kitzbuehel and Vienna last year.

Chile’s Cristian Garin shook off the frustration of losing a lengthy second set tie-break to take down Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 6-7 (9-11), 6-3. He will face Thiem for a place in the quarter-finals.

Grigor Dimitrov, Hubert Hurkacz and Lorenzo Sonego all had straight-set wins, while Dan Evans led 6-3, 4-5 when his opponent, Aljaz Bedene, quit the match with an injury.

After health and safety measures were tightened in Austria last week, 1,000 spectators were allowed in the 9,000-capacity Stadthalle arena.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2020