He may be a former champion in Melbourne, but Novak Djokovic continued to play like anything but one yesterday as he was far from his best and forced to scrap to secure a second-round win over Marco Chiudinelli.
The 2008 winner was slow out of the blocks as he lost the first set to his Swiss opponent, but found his range to sweep through the next two sets.
Chuidinelli pushed the Serbian hard in the fourth set but the third seed prevailed to go through 3-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 and set up a third-round tie with Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin.
Djokovic admitted he was not satisfied with his form, particularly early in the match. "I was frustrated, especially at the start of the match, because he was really giving it to me.
"He was very aggressive and stepping in and using ever opportunity that has been given to him," he said.
"So automatically I just became too defensive and didn't really make too much. Just waiting for his mistakes. That was a little issue there, but I managed to make that transition from being defensive to being offensive and changing pace and holding the game in control in the second and third set."
World No 1 Roger Federer showed glimpses of his best form as he proved far too strong for Romania's Victor Hanescu 6-2, 6-3, 6-2, while sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko only dropped six games in his comprehensive demolition of Illya Marchenko.
The surprise of the day was the defeat of 17th seed David Ferrer by Marcos Baghdatis. The Spaniard won the opening two sets, but was powerless to prevent Baghdatis, who reached the final in Melbourne in 2006, from fighting back to win 4-6, 3-6, 7-6, 6-3, 6-1.
He plays another former finalist, Australian Lleyton Hewitt, tomorrow with the incentive of a possible last 16 showdown with Federer in store for the winner.
Fernando Verdasco and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga both won in straight sets.
gcaygill@thenational.ae
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A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
The%20Continental%3A%20From%20the%20World%20of%20John%20Wick%20
%3Cp%3ECreated%20by%3A%20Greg%20Coolidge%2C%20Shawn%20Simmons%2C%20Kirk%20Ward%3Cbr%3EStars%3A%20Mel%20Gibson%2C%20Colin%20Woodell%2C%20Mishel%20Prada%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Results
Stage seven
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 3:20:24
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1s
3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 5s
General Classification
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 25:38:16
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 22s
3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 48s
Banthology: Stories from Unwanted Nations
Edited by Sarah Cleave, Comma Press
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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Hili 2: Unesco World Heritage site
The site is part of the Hili archaeological park in Al Ain. Excavations there have proved the existence of the earliest known agricultural communities in modern-day UAE. Some date to the Bronze Age but Hili 2 is an Iron Age site. The Iron Age witnessed the development of the falaj, a network of channels that funnelled water from natural springs in the area. Wells allowed settlements to be established, but falaj meant they could grow and thrive. Unesco, the UN's cultural body, awarded Al Ain's sites - including Hili 2 - world heritage status in 2011. Now the most recent dig at the site has revealed even more about the skilled people that lived and worked there.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Revibe%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hamza%20Iraqui%20and%20Abdessamad%20Ben%20Zakour%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Refurbished%20electronics%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%20so%20far%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410m%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFlat6Labs%2C%20Resonance%20and%20various%20others%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
