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The 21-time Major winner Novak Djokovic is safely into the second round at the ATP 500 event in Astana. Novak continued where he left in Tel Aviv last week and toppled Cristian Garin 6-1, 6-1 in 61 minutes for the sixth consecutive victory.
The Serb left the Chilean behind in every department and wrapped up the win in no time to preserve energy for the upcoming duels. Novak dropped six points behind the initial shot and never faced a break point. The pressure was on Cristian, and he could not deal with it.
Garin gave away 57% of the points in his games and got broken five times from eight chances offered to Djokovic. Cristian placed a backhand wide in the encounter's first game to lose serve at 15 and fall behind. Novak confirmed the break with a hold at love in game two, landing an ace down the T line for 2-0.
Novak Djokovic made a flying start in Astana.
Garin played his best service game and held at love with a service winner to reduce the deficit to 1-2. Djokovic produced another fine hold in game four with an unreturned serve for a 3-1 lead.
Imposing his strokes, Novak broke at 15 in game five to increase the advantage and held at 15 a few minutes later for 5-1 in 20 minutes. Pushing strong on the return, Djokovic grabbed the second consecutive break of serve in game seven to wrap up the opener 6-1 in no time.
The Chilean won an extended rally at the start of the second set and reached deuce on the return with a smash winner. Novak claimed two quick points to bring the game home and rattle off five in a row. Cristian fended off a break point in game two and closed it with a service winner for 1-1.
Djokovic clinched the third game at love with a service winner and broke the rival in the next one to move 3-1 in front. The Serb landed an ace in game five to open a 4-1 lead and move closer to the finish line. With the finish line clearly within his sight, Novak crakced a forehand down the line winner for another impressive break in game six and a chance to seal the deal on his sirve in the next one. Djokovic fired a forehand winner in game seven to emerge at the top in style and sail into the second round.