Two days later, the Serb Djokovic was too strong for Chilean Christian Garin in two sets (6-1 6-1). Djokovic, placed fourth in the Kazakh capital, needed just over an hour.
Van de Zandschulp, the number 34 in the world, has never played against Djokovic before. The Serb, who has long been the leader of the world rankings, has slumped and is now seventh, mainly because of his refusal to vaccinate against Covid-19. He missed the Australian Open and the US Open, among other things, but did win Wimbledon in between. There were no points for the world ranking to be earned due to the lack of Russian and Belarusian tennis players.
Djokovic won the Tel Aviv tournament last Sunday. That was the first tournament – outside the Laver Cup – in which he played since Wimbledon last summer.
