World No 64 Quentin Halys tried to keep a positive spirit after suffering a tight two-set loss to Novak Djokovic as he noted it was a very encouraging performance from his side. Going into their Adelaide International round-of-16 match, Djokovic was the absolute favorite to win the match.
But Halys came out playing fearless as Djokovic in the end scraped past the Frenchman with a 7-6 (3) 7-6 (5) score. “I had a good match, I served well overall. Coming to the end of the first set I didn’t have many first serves so that didn’t help me much.
Afterwards, I don’t think there is much to regret, he was just better than me. I stayed focused, I didn’t go far in the tie-break, he made a great point to take my point of service. There are probably small tactical adjustments to be made to win this kind of match, but it’s going in the right direction, it’s positive!
It’s nice to play a match like that, added Halys. Now we must continue to work. It was only the first tournament of the season, but it’s encouraging and it makes you want to go back to work,” Halys told L’Equipe.
Halys had a great chance to win the first set against Djokovic
Halys came out firing as he earned the first break of the match in the second game and also saved two break points in the following game to open a 3-0 lead.
But in the ninth game – when the moment came for Halys to serve out for the first set – the Frenchman froze as Djokovic broke back and eventually sent the opener into a tie-break. After recovering from a break down, Djokovic started the first-set tie-break with a 5-0 lead.
Halys saved the first two set points but couldn’t save the third as Djokovic sealed the first set. In the second set, the only break points – which at the same time were match points – were seen in the 10th game, when Djokovic missed out on two match points on Halys’ serve.
In the second-set tie-break, the two players were tied to five points apiece before Djokovic won the next two points to complete a tight two-set win.
