Djokovic beats Fucsovics in Geneva for first clay win of 2025
The Serbian will play Matteo Arnaldi, the Italian who beat him in Madrid, in the quarter-finals
Novak Djokovic – Genève 2025 © CYRIL ZINGARO/AP/SIPA
Novak Djokovic served brilliantly as he chalked up his first clay-court win of the year on Wednesday, his 6-2, 6-3 victory over Marton Fucsovics of Hungary sealing a spot in the quarter-finals of the Geneva Open.
On the eve of his 39th birthday, the Serbian did not face a break point on his serve and was in control throughout as he extended his head to head advantage over Fucsovics to 6-0.
“Obviously it’s great to break the ice,” Djokovic said. “It’s a really tricky surface, we all know how tricky it is to play on clay. Here, at altitude, it’s helpful if you have a good serve and today I think that was my best shot. I had a lot of free points on my serve.
“I was able to play my best tennis when I needed it. All the way through I think I was quite focused and played a good level of tennis.”
Early break sets him on his way
Beaten in his first match in Monte-Carlo and Madrid and having skipped Rome, Djokovic was playing for the first time since splitting from coach Andy Murray. And right from the start he looked back to his usual self as he outplayed Fucsovics.
An early break, in the fourth game, settled any nerves there might have been and though Fucsovics fought hard in the second set, he was unable to create any opportunities on the Djokovic serve.
The 24-times Grand Slam winner will now play Matteo Arnaldi, the Italian who beat him last time out in Madrid.
“It will be a different match to today, tactically,” Djokovic said. “I lost to him three weeks ago in Madrid, so hopefully it will be a different result tomorrow.”
In the previous round of the Geneva tournament, Fucsovics, ranked No 134, won against Belgian Zizou Bergs (6-2, 6-3).
Geneva ATP 250, other second-round results (Tennis Club de Genève, Parc des Eaux-Vives, clay, EUR 596.035, most recent results first):
- Cameron Norrie vs. Tomas Machac
- Alexei Popyrin vs. Jacob Fearnley: wednesday
- Hubert Hurkacz (6) beat Arthur Rinderknech: 6-4, 6-1
- Matteo Arnaldi beat Fabian Marozsan: 6-3, 7-6 (3)
- Sebastian Ofner (Q) beat Nuno Borges: 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4)
- Karen Khachanov (4) beat Kei Nishikori: 7-5, 2-5 ret.
- Taylor Fritz (1) beat Quentin Halys: 6-4, 7-6 (5)
