Novak Djokovic has lent his star power to the inaugural Vanda Pharmaceutical Hellenic Championship and will continue to do so for at least a few more days.
Playing professionally in Greece for the first time, the top seed defeated Alejandro Tabilo for the first time on Tuesday, overcoming the left-handed Chilean 7-6(3), 6-1 in one hour and 39 minutes to book his place in his 225th ATP quarter-final. He has reached that huge amount of quarter-finals in 25 different countries.
“It feels like home, playing in Athens,” said Djokovic, who recently moved to Athens with his family. “I’ve always loved Greece… Athens is in my heart, there’s no doubt about it.”
The 38-year-old had lost his two previous meetings with Tabilo, in Rome in 2024 and this year in Monte-Carlo, but he used strong fast courts and strengthened his serve to make life easier against the 28-year-old former world No.19.
Djokovic failed to score on two break points in the opening game of the match, but he did not face a break point in the set and dominated the tiebreak to take a set lead.
Djokovic won 34 of 37 first serve points in the contest, hit 13 aces and saved the only break point he faced.
Djokovic hit 27 winners compared to just 12 for Tabilo.
With the crowd chanting “Nole! Nole!”, the 24-time major champion cruised into the second set, reeling off the last five games to record his 1,160th career win against 223 losses.
In the quarterfinals he will face Nuno Borges or Eliot Spizzirri.
“I’m really excited to go against Tabilo tonight, a player I’ve never won against. I was more tense and stressed before the match than I would be in some other matches.”
