Earth Examination news portalEarth Examination news portal

Djokovic wins his opener at the Italian Open after a month off. Defending champ Rybakina withdraws

ROME (AP) — Novak Djokovic took a little while to get going in his first match in nearly a month.

He cleaned up his game after dropping his first two service games with some sloppy play, though, and completed a 6-3, 6-1 win over left-handed French qualifier Corentin Moutet in his opening match at the Italian Open on Friday.

“I haven’t practiced with a lefty in a while, so it took me a little bit of time to adjust to the different rotation on the balls,” Djokovic said. “The first four games were quite bad for me. … But then I played well.”

Djokovic later needed medical attention after accidentally getting knocked on the head by a water bottle while leaving the court.

A man was leaning over the railing to hand Djokovic a notebook for a signature and an aluminum-type water bottle fell out of his backpack and hit the top-ranked player on the top of his head.

live(1)
Without permission, shall not be reproduced:>Earth Examination news portal » Djokovic wins his opener at the Italian Open after a month off. Defending champ Rybakina withdraws