ATP Doha: Novak Djokovic battles past Marton Fucsovics to reach quarters
The Hungarian played on a very high level, overpowering Novak in the opening set with bold and clean hitting, staying in touch until the 10th game of the second set when he suffered a break following a poor challenge that sealed his fate and a chance for a huge surprise.
Marton has made huge progress in the last two season,s becoming a national Davis Cup hero and cracking the top-40, showing his full abilities today and how dangerous he is for any rival when he has his day. Novak served at 71% and he suffered two breaks from four chances he offered to Fucsovics, staying away from the break points until the very last game of the second set and rattling off four good return games to close the match in style, dominating in the decider against the less experienced rival.
As we already said, Marton did everything right for almost two entire sets, hitting with power and precision and not letting Novak dictate the pace and move him from his forehand wing. Thanks to that third set, Djokovic stole 42% of the return points to grab four breaks, enough to cross the finish line first and stay on the winning way after lifting the title in Abu Dhabi last weekend.
The first set saw nine good holds and one loose on Novaks serve, with Marton forcing an error from the 14-time Grand Slam champion to move 5-4 ahead before closing the set with a service winner in the following game after 40 minutes.
Just like in the opener, there were no break points in the first eight games of the second set and Novak made a nice hold for a 5-4, forcing Marton to serve to stay in the set. Djokovic finally created a break point 90 minutes since the start of the match and he converted it when his forehand landed on the baseline and Fucsovics asked for a challenge that proved him wrong, losing serve and the set in the worst possible way.
Novak was the big favorite now and he broke Martons serve thrice in the deciding set, keeping the scoreboard in control and sealing the deal with three winners in game seven for an important win and the place in the last eight.
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