No. 130 Tomas Machac takes Djokovic the distance, but Novak emerges 13-0 on the young season

MATCH POINT: Djokovic closes out Machac in third-set tiebreak

Novak Djokovic has dropped more sets this year to 130th-ranked Tomas Machac and 191st-ranked Enzo Couacaud than he has in his other 11 matches combined.

It’s a bizarre stat, but one that ultimately means little considering Djokovic has gone on to win all 13 contests.

Playing for the first time since claiming his 10th Australian Open title, Djokovic showed a bit of rust with a sizable unforced error count (28, compared to his opponent’s 17), and he took Machac’s best punches during an unexpectedly lopsided second set. But he gained the upper hand by the end of his 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (1) first-round victory in Dubai.

“Tomas definitely didn’t play like 130th in the world today,” said Djokovic. “He played great tennis, and he deserves a big round of applause.”

Unlike Couacaud, who snagged the second set of his second-round match with Djokovic in Melbourne before being blitzed off the court, Machac put a real scare into the Serbian’s legions of fans. The 22-year-old qualifier—who beat Marton Fucsovics in three sets before earning passage to the main draw with a 6-0, 6-1 rout—was bold throughout the day. He took forehands early, he changed directions with a powerfully compact two-handed backhand, and he serve-and-volleyed to change tactics. He threw everything he could at Djokovic, and with this type of play should find himself back in the Top 100 and into main draws of Slams.

But as is often the case against Djokovic, it still wasn’t enough.

After a routine first set, Machac showed off the weapons that would make this contest much more competitive than expected. He broke serve immediately for a 2-0 advantage, then led Djokovic 4-1. When Djokovic, serving at 30-30, connected with one of his signature running backhand crosscourt passes, the commentator said what everyone watching was thinking:

“Maybe it’s a point, a shot, a moment like that which will spark him back to life.”

But to Machac’s immense credit, he refused to cede the momentum. While he’d lose the game, he’d win the set with the same aggressive mentality. Serving for the set at 5-3, Machac was casually passed while trying to serve and volley. No problem: he served-and-volleyed on the very next point, which he won.

“Absolute nerves of steel,” said Tennis Channel’s Jan-Michael Gambill after another successful Machac serve-and-volley—in the third set, when trailing 4-5, 15-30.

Machac showed signs of a wrist injury in the third set, but you’d have never known it given his steady artillery. And this is where Djokovic earns immense credit: facing a heavy-hitting player with absolutely nothing to lose, and after failing to maintain a break-of-serve edge in the final set (Machac broke while trailing 2-4), Novak refused to cede the moment. A loss would have been surprising, but hardly damaging to Djokovic. It would have undoubtedly gone down as one the youngster’s career achievements when he looks back at his time on tour.

But after a spotty couple of sets, Djokovic settled down in the match’s most pressure-filled moment, the deciding tiebreak. He saved some of his best shotmaking for the winner-take-all juncture, dropping just one point and looking as confident as he had been all day.

“He was giving me all kinds of trouble,” said Djokovic, who became just the seventh player in ATP history to win 300 tiebreaks. “But I guess when it mattered, I found another gear.”

If that’s not a sign of the Serbian’s ability to play his best when it matters most—no matter the opponent’s ranking—I don’t know what is.