“It's the dream of every single player to beat a World No. 1,” Jiri Vesely said after downing Novak Djokovic in the second round of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on Wednesday. “For me, it's definitely a dream come true.
“When I went on court, I was hoping to win a game or to do well. But I really had no idea that I really would be able to beat Novak today. I still can't believe it happened.”
For the Czech left-hander, who held the World No. 1 rank as a junior, the win over Djokovic was a pleasant surprise considering his disappointing early season results.
“I've struggled the last few months,” noted Vesely, who did not manage to win consecutive matches in 2016 until he reached the semi-finals in Marrakech last week (l. to Coric). Adversity was never far away once Vesely arrived in Monte-Carlo. In his opening match, the 22 year old found himself on the brink of elimination before rallying against Teimuraz Gabashvili for a 7-5 deciding-set win.
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“I was actually 3-6, 3-5 down. It could have gone badly yesterday and nothing would have happened today. I'm just amazing happy about the way I fought today and the way I finished the match.”
The experience proved helpful to Vesely, No. 55 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, on Wednesday. After seeing Djokovic even the match at one set-all, he took the time to refocus before holding on for the biggest win of his career. “I had completely lost my concentration [after the second set]. Novak stopped missing and I made a lot of easy mistakes.
“I said to myself: ‘Okay, now you really have work for every single ball because otherwise it's going to end badly.’ It definitely helped me when I broke him for 1-0.”
With the lead secured, Vesely swung freely and mustered his best shots of the match.
“[Serving at 5-4] was definitely a special game. After he won the first point, I knew I had to win the next one, or I’d be in trouble at 0-30. I played a drop shot after a long rally. It was probably the only shot I could have played.
“My serve helped me get to 30-15. Then I just told myself to go for it and to enjoy the moment.”
