Serbian cheer squad inspire Djokovic to easy win

Published January 08, 2015

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Third seed Novak Djokovic, spurred on by a boisterous Serbian cheer squad, cruised into the Australian Open second round with a 7-5 6-3 6-2 victory over Spain's Daniel Gimeno-Traver Tuesday.

The 2008 champion, whose every winner was greeted with cheers from vocal groups of fans wearing shirts spelling out his nickname Nole, was pushed in the first set by the 74th-ranked Spaniard, who held a 4-2 lead.

Djokovic broke into a wry smile when the 24-year-old feinted to hit crosscourt as he charged in to reach a drop shot, only to stroke the ball with an inside out motion and send it spinning away from the wrong-footed Serb.

The stroke, however, only served to antagonise the world number three who broke in the 12th game and was less troubled in the remaining two sets as he ran out a comfortable winner in just over two hours.

(Reporting by Greg Stutchbury; Editing by Ed Osmond)

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