Novak Djokovic puts French Open disappointment behind him by beating Filip Krajinovic in the opening round at the Austrian Open
- Novak Djokovic was disappointed after losing to Rafael Nadal at the French Open
- Djokovic has moved on, beating Filip Krajinovic 7-6 (6) 6-3 at the Austrian Open
- He said it was hard to play against Krajinovic as they regularly train together
Novak Djokovic is beginning to put his French Open disappointment behind him with an opening round win at the Austrian Open.
The world number one has not played since his Roland Garros trouncing by Rafael Nadal earlier this month, where he won just nine games in the final.
He is back in action in Vienna and cruised past fellow Serb Filip Krajinovic 7-6 (6) 6-3.
Novak Djokovic beat Filip Krajinovic 7-6 (6) 6-3 in the opening round at the Austrian Open
‘I was lucky in the first set… we are good friends, we train a lot (together) and it is never easy to play someone that you are very close to,’ said Djokovic in an on-court interview.
‘He is a very nice guy and I have known him since he was very young. I followed him, I tried to be there as a friend, as a mentor. We go back a long way.
‘We practised a few times (together) before coming to Vienna. The draw was tough for us to face each other, but there is always extra pressure and importance to a match when you play someone that you know very well.’
Djokovic (left) said it was hard to play against Krajinovic (right) as they regularly train together
Djokovic’s win comes shortly after he was beaten by Rafael Nadal at the French Open
The US Open champion Dominic Thiem, a beneficiary of Djokovic’s disqualification in New York, also progressed on home soil.
The Austrian was too good for lucky loser Vitaliy Sachko, winning 6-4 7-5.
That was the same scoreline by which compatriot Jurij Rodionov stunned eighth seed Denis Shapovalov.
The Canadian was downed by the world number 153 in a match he would have expected to win.
Fifth seed Andrey Rublev made smooth progress, beating Norbert Gombos 6-3 6-2, while Grigor Dimitrov came out on the right side of a tough match with Karen Khachanov, winning 7-6 (6) 6-3.
There were also wins for Kevin Anderson and Borna Coric, while Pablo Carreno Busta and Dan Evans were the beneficiaries of retirements as their respective opponents Gael Monfils and Aljaz Bedene pulled out with injuries.
Stan Wawrinka was beaten in three sets by Cristian Garin in the late match.
