Novak Djokovic briefly ran into a spot of bother as he fought his way into the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters with a 7-6(5) 6-2 victory against Russian qualifier Ivan Gakhov on Tuesday (April 11).
The world number one had not played a competitive match since early March when he reached the final at the Dubai Tennis Championships. The Serb, who was forced to skip Indian Wells and the Miami Open because of his COVID vaccination status, struggled to find his range on the Monte Carlo clay before prevailing on a sunlit centre court.
The double French Open champion, who suffered an opening-round exit in Monte Carlo last year, will face Italian Lorenzo Musetti next.