Sometimes when people quit a sport for which they are famous but did not make a formal announcement of retirement, the assumption that they are gone forever might gain ground. And sometimes, they are indeed gone. At other times, they pop back into the picture almost immediately.
That may not be the exact case of tennis ace Novak Djokovic, but it comes pretty close. The event was the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, and it pitted Novak against Ivan Gakhov, who holds the 198th spot in the world rankings.
At the outset, it appeared like Ivan was on course to win the opening set. But this unravelled quickly and it didn’t end that way. Novak bested his opponent and maintained a similar tempo until the end of the match, further cementing his position as a world champion.
During the on-court interview, he would admit that he didn’t play his best during the opening set. And because of that, he believes his win wasn’t a beautiful one. It was “an ugly tennis win for me today,” Djokovic noted.
Of course, not even all his fans would buy his verdict. The important to them was that he won; not having had a splendid opening set is secondary
