Alex Molcan described playing Novak Djokovic as “a good school” for him as he admits there is a lot that he as a player can learn from the Serb. Molcan, 25, played Djokovic for the first time in the 2021 Belgrade final – the Serb won their first meeting 6-4 6-3.
In the first round of this year’s French Open, Djokovic defeated Molcan again 6-2 6-3 7-6 (4). “Playing against Djokovic really showed me how tennis is played. It’s not about playing crazy fast or trying to be extremely aggressive, it’s about the head and you know it looks like Djokovic is playing chess It was a really incredible experience, I learned a lot from it, I saw how maybe I can play, not exactly, but some moves, how he’s thinking, I was re-watching this match a lot and yes, the experience was amazing, it was a good school for me,” Molcan said on the ATP Tennis Radio Podcast.
Molcan hired Djokovic’s ex-coach
In February, Djokovic announced that he and his long-time coach Marian Vajda were ending their partnership. Shortly after, Molcan hired Djokovic’s ex-coach Vajda. When Djokovic drew Molcan in the French Open first round, many were interested in seeing Djokovic and Vajda on the opposing sides for the first time.
Even though Molcan certainly received some great tips from Vajda before the match, it didn’t really help a lot the Slovakian. Djokovic made a fast start to their match, breaking Molcan twice to easily win the first set.
In the second set, Djokovic broke Molcan in the sixth game and held on to his serve the rest of the set to open a two-set lead. After winning the first two sets, Djokovic also broke Molcan in the third game of the third set to open a 2-1 lead.
Down by two sets and a break, Molcan refused to quit as he broke back Djokovic in the fourth game and eventually managed to force a tie-break. In the tie-break, Djokovic opened a 5-2 lead before converting his second match point to complete a three-set win.
