The Serbian beats the Frenchman after a three-set battle. He will face one between Lajovic and Barrere. In Germany everything was postponed due to rain. Cobolli and Sonego on the field tomorrow at 11
Novak Djokovic’s debut at the ATP 250 which is taking place on the red clay of Banja Luka, in Bosnia, in what for him is not only his home tournament, but is in fact managed by him and his family. The Serbian, number one in the world and on the scoreboard and competing directly in the second round, flies to the quarterfinals but only after beating Luca Van Assche, 18-year-old French number 87 Atp, who had eliminated Stan Wawrinka in his debut: 6- 7(4) 6-3 6-2 after two hours and 39 minutes of play the final in favor of Djokovic.
THE SUCCESS OF NOLE
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It is no surprise at all that Nole had so much difficulty beating this hopeful 2004. The reasons? Mainly two. Djokovic is light years away from acceptable conditions, he has played very little in this 2023 and the elbow seems to give him more trouble than expected, as he had already demonstrated in Montecarlo, without taking anything away from Lorenzo Musetti’s feat, obviously. On earth, if Nole is not feeling well, the gap narrows, and how, it almost vanishes. The other reason, and perhaps more intriguing if not interesting, is that this Van Assche plays tennis really well. The 18-year-old from Woluwe St Lambert, who has an Italian mother and a Belgian father, is going through an extraordinary moment of form, with victories in the Pau and Sanremo Challengers, and is the only player under 19 to be in the top 100 , 87 to be exact. Even with Djokovic he has shown what he is capable of and why he is rapidly climbing up the ladder so fast. He is still light and lacks the definitive shot, the one that splits your games, but France could have found an excellent, excellent prospect. The rain changes the plans and the programming of the ATP 250 in Munich, Germany. All canceled today, with the two Italians in the draw, Flavio Cobolli and Lorenzo Sonego, who will play tomorrow from 11. Cobolli, number 208, makes his debut against the German Oscar Otte, number 94 and semifinalist in Munich a year ago. After the Cobolli match, Lorenzo Sonego will play on the same pitch. The Turinese, number 45 in the world, will play for the second time in his career against the Chilean Cristian Garin, number 86 in the ranking.
