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Novak Djokovic wins Eastbourne ahead of Wimbledon

By The Sports Xchange
Novak Djokovic returns a shot during the French Open. Djokovic captured the Aegon International title Saturday. Photo by David Silpa/UPI
Novak Djokovic returns a shot during the French Open. Djokovic captured the Aegon International title Saturday. Photo by David Silpa/UPI | License Photo

Novak Djokovic of Serbia warmed up for Wimbledon by rolling past Gael Monfils of France 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday to win the Aegon International final in Eastbourne, England.

The top-seeded Djokovic, who plays Martin Klizan of Slovakia in the first round at Wimbledon on Tuesday, stretched his domination of No. 2 seed Monfils to 14-0 in one hour, 16 minutes to claim his second ATP victory of the year.

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"This is the best possible preparation for Wimbledon, so hopefully I can go on from here," said the 30-year-old Djokovic, who is ranked fourth in the world. "It was a great week. Obviously it feels right, looking back on the decision-making process and whether or not I should come here. Now it feels like it was a good decision.

"But also a few days ago it felt right because I had a lot of time spent on the court, some good match play. But most of all, I felt very welcomed here by the people. On and off the court I was greeted, I was respected. So, for me, it was just a phenomenal experience that I will definitely take with me to Wimbledon."

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Djokovic, who was playing the week before Wimbledon for the first time since 2010, added the Eastbourne title to the one he claimed at the Qatar Open in January.

The Serb jumped ahead early by breaking Monfils' serve in the first game of the match and finished the opening set by claiming another break. He stayed in command by being on target with 87 percent of his first serves in the set.

Monfils made it more interesting in the second set by staying within 4-5 before Djokovic served out the victory.

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