Belgrade (Serbia), May 29: Novak Djokovic warmed up for the French Open by beating Alex Molcan 6-4, 6-3 to take his 83rd career title Saturday on home soil at the Belgrade Open.
Top-ranked Djokovic struggled on serve in the first set as he was broken three times by his Slovakian opponent. Djokovic was also broken once in the second set by Molcan, the 255th-ranked qualifier playing his first tour-level final, but was reliably able to dominate Molcan’s serve for a total six breaks in the match.
It’s the third career title for Djokovic in his home nation after he won the Serbia Open, a different tournament in the same city, in 2009 and 2011. Djokovic is drawn against Tennys Sandgren of the United States in the first round at Roland Garros, an opponent most would expect should not pose too much of a threat for the Djoker. (AP)
