By Chris Soderstrom
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Russian Nikolay Davydenko enjoyed favourable results yesterday winning each of their first round encounters at the Tennis Masters Cup.
Belgrade native, Djokovic, made a fine start subduing eighth seed Juan Martin Del Potro 7-5, 6-3 in the first of his round robin matches.
“Last year I didn’t have a lot of success. I lost every single match I played, but this time is different,” said Djokovic, who has three titles to his name this season including a maiden Grand Slam title at Melbourne Park.
The victory took the 21-year-old to a career-best 61-16 record for the season and he now holds a two-nil lead over the rising Argentine.
Meanwhile, Davydenko fought hard against exciting Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and was a deserved 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(0) winner.