BELGRADE, June 13, 2020
Novak Djokovic headlined the opening day of the Adria Tour by winning his first match. In front of 4,000 fans at the Novak Tennis Center in Belgrade, the World No. 1 defeated fellow Serbian Viktor Troicki 4-1, 4-1 in 37 minutes.
“I really enjoyed myself out there,” Djokovic during his post match on-court interview. “Viktor started well but he seemed to have lost his momentum after the opening few games and in this format the match can be over pretty quickly. Once again I want to thank every player who turned up and all the fans who flocked in, their presence has made this weekend a memorable one.”
Later in the afternoon, Filip Krajinovic of Serbia took the opening set against Alexander Zverev, but the German recovered to produce his best shots in the second and third sets to secure a 0-4, 4-3, 4-3 victory.
Evening session at #AdriaTour, my dear colleague @iv_salapura is providing me with photos. pic.twitter.com/PiTsYq4qGF
— Saša Ozmo (@ozmo_sasa) June 13, 2020
In the evening session, Krajinovic upset Djokovic 2-4, 4-2, 4-1 and Zverev defeated Troicki 4-1, 4-1 in the final match of the day, which ended half past midnight local time.
“I didn’t start well today but finished very well. Now I am looking forward to playing Novak tomorrow,” Zverev said after his second victory of the day.
Over in Group B, Nikola Milojevic of Serbia stunned Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 4-1, 4-3(4). The former World No.1 of the ITF Juniors Ranking replaced injured Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who was forced to retire in his match against Dominic Thiem. Later, the Austrian had to save three match points to overcome Serbian Dusan Lajovic 1-4, 4-1, 4-3 (6) to take the lead in his group.
The winners of both groups will meet in the final.
Tournament in Montenegro cancelled
The Adria Tour is kicking off in Belgrade, Serbia this weekend and ends on July 5 with an exhibition match between Djokovic and Damir Dzumhur in Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina.
The other events are scheduled for the Croatian Adriatic resort of Zadar (June 20 to 21) and Banja Luka (July 3 to 4) in northern Bosnia. The tournament in Montenegro (June 27 to 28) has been cancelled.
“For weeks, we have been trying to find a way to organize everything and prepare a spectacle for all sports fans. There were more challenges, starting with the fact that the citizens of Serbia are not on the list of the Institute of Public Health of Montenegro and therefore we can not travel to Montenegro,” Adria Tour tournament director Djordje Djokovic said.
