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Novak Djokovic admitted he felt like he was “under attack” during a tough opening match at the Swiss Indoors. The world No. 12 took a wildcard into the ATP 500 event and is making his first appearance in Basel since 2011. But he got a tough draw, coming up against former top-15 star Ugo Humbert in round one. Djokovic started slow but steadied the ship to claim a 4-6 6-3 6-4 comeback victory, and admitted he felt the pressure immediately.
“Super tight match, very intense from the very beginning. He was just striking the ball beautifully, being super aggressive, taking away a lot of the time for me,” the fourth seed said after advancing to the last 16.
“I was under attack from the very first point to be honest, and I had to weather the storm, and it was tough, really tough, for a set and a half. But I managed to find my rhythm at the beginning of the second and save some break points, crucial at the beginning of the second set.
“After that, I started feeling a big more comfortable with his tempo. Overall, a huge challenge, and great burden and obstacle. I succeeded to manage to find the solutions in a tough match.”
This was Djokovic’s first indoor match of the season, and his first indoors since lifting the trophy in Athens last November. The 24-time Major winner is hoping the conditions will be easier than playing outdoors in heat and humidity, but he still had to adjust.
The 39-year-old added: “It's my first indoor match, so I kind of expected it to be a little bit rusty, and a tough draw for the first round. I played Humbert only once, years ago.
“As I said, tough player, really quick conditions, so hard to break the serve, and once you do, you're kind of under pressure with a player like him, he serves so well, he was super aggressive. It's a big win for me. I know there's quite a few things I can do better, but a win is a win, and I'll take that today.”
Djokovic will now face in-form Jan-Lennard Struff for a place in the quarter-finals. A former world No. 21, the German reached last week’s Brussels final and stunned Arthur Fils en route. He’s won five of his last six matches.
The Serb holds an unbeaten 8-0 record against Struff, with their last meeting coming at the 2025 US Open. Djokovic has only lost one set to the 36-year-old in his career at the 2020 Australian Open.
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