Novak Djokovic makes winning return at Italian Open despite complaints

Novak Djokovic made a winning return to action at the Italian Open despite complaining about the state of the court and appearing to be feeling a little under the weather.

While the absent Rafael Nadal remains the main injury concern ahead of the French Open, Djokovic sat out the Madrid Open because of a right elbow problem.

He still had strapping on the joint during his second-round clash with Argentina’s Tomas Etcheverry in Rome and had to battle hard to win a long first set before pulling away to triumph 7-6 (5) 6-2.

- Nole, can I get an autograph?- Sure, what's your name?#IBI23 pic.twitter.com/9JFWQlshUx

— Internazionali BNL d'Italia (@InteBNLdItalia) May 12, 2023

Djokovic, who will be overtaken as world number one by Carlos Alcaraz a week on Monday, dropped serve in the opening game and, although he quickly fought back, he was unhappy about the number of bad bounces.

The 35-year-old also seemed to be troubled by his stomach and he missed two set points at 4-5 before trailing 3-0 and 5-3 in the tie-break.

Etcheverry could not finish the job, though, and, with Roma boss Jose Mourinho among those watching from the stands, Djokovic was able to breathe much more easily after winning the final four points of the tie-break.

Speaking afterwards on Amazon Prime Video, he said: “I’m still not at the desired level, finding the shots, finding that groove on the court.

“It’s always a little bit tricky playing someone for the first time, he’s a clay-court specialist and he started better than I did. The second set was good, especially the last three or four games. I’m happy with the way I closed out that match.”

On his complaints about the court, he said: “Every second bounce is uneven, the court is not in a great state, but