FP – Davis Cup hero Thanasi Kokkinakis has completed a promising day for Australians at the Indian Wells Masters.
A week after helping Australia to the Davis Cup quarter-finals for the first time in nine years with a crucial day-one singles win against the Czech Republic, Kokkinakis backed up for a 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 first-round victory over German Jan-Lennard Struff.
James Duckworth also progressed to the second round in the Californian desert with a 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 success over Austrian Dominic Thiem, a watershed win that send the Sydneysider into the top 100 for the first time.
Sam Groth suffered a frustrating 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (8-6) loss to Spaniard Daniel Gimeno, while Italian Roberta Vinci eliminated Jarmila Gajdosova from the women’s event with a 4-6 6-1 6-2 win over the in-form Australian.
World No.1 Novak Djokovic, meanwhile, says as much as he would like to win a fourth Indian Wells title, claiming the elusive French Open crown is taking priority over everything else.
The 27-year-old Serbian star is aiming for back-to-back Indian Wells titles to go with his fifth Australian Open title won earlier this year.
He has two Wimbledon crowns and one US Open but has yet to lift the trophy at Roland Garros, having finished runner-up twice.
“The highest priority is the French Open,” he said on Thursday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden stadium.
“The French Open of course is the grand slam I’ve never won. But I’ve had a lot of good tournaments there. I played a couple times the finals there, got a step closer.”
Djokovic said he doesn’t agonise over his Paris final defeats but rather sees them as a learning experience.
“I use the losses as a way to grow mentally, physically and emotionally as a player so I can understand what I need to do better,” he said.
He said he didn’t want to dwell on whether it would happen this year but he planned to show up in top condition and ready to go the distance.
“It’s still too early to talk about it. The difference to those goals and approach is I won’t put too much pressure on myself,” the Serb said.
“I don’t want to take away too much energy thinking about if I will make it or not.”
Djokovic knows the drill in the two-week Indian Wells tournament winning in 2011 and 2008 before conquering Swiss star Roger Federer in last year’s final.
Federer is seeking his fifth Indian Wells trophy after sweeping titles from 2004-2006 and taking the top prize in 2012.
Also bidding for a fourth Indian Wells championship is Spain’s Rafael Nadal, who won in 2007, 2009 and 2013.
Since 2003, the only Indian Wells champion not from among that star trio is 2010 winner Ivan Ljubicic.
“It can’t stay that way forever,” Djokovic said. “I think we expect a new generation to come along.”
