Novak Djokovic overcame a mini-scare to beat Mats Moraing 6-2 7-6(4) in Belgrade.
It’s the second time this clay court swing that Djokovic has competed at his home tournament after losing in the semi-finals to Aslan Karatsev in the first edition.
In the second edition, he began his campaign with a straight sets but far from straight-forward win over German lucky loser Mats Moraing.
The first set was comfortable for the world number one who broker Moraing in the last two return games after a tricky start to take the opening set 6-2 in 39 minutes.
However the second set was a lot trickier for the Serb after breaking in the third game, the world number 253 broke straight back in a long game.
A similar pattern followed at the end of the set as Djokovic failed to serve out the match.
It took a tiebreak for Djokovic to complete victory in which he won the last three points to seal his place in the quarter-finals.
After the match Djokovic admitted he was pleased with his performance, “It was a very good start,” the Serb said in his on-court interview.
“I started 6-2 against a player I’ve never faced before. He was going for some shots today that were amazing.
“I was twice a break up in the second set so I maybe could have finished out the job earlier, but credit to him for fighting, for playing really well, for playing very courageous, very bold tennis.”
Djokovic will now play world number 96 Federico Coria in the last eight on Thursday.
