Novak Djokovic’s hard-court struggles continued on Thursday with a 7-6(6), 7-5 loss to Tommy Robredo in the third round of the Western & Southern Open. Djokovic is now a disappointing 2-2 since winning Wimbledon, having previously lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the same stage of last week’s Masters 1000 event in Toronto.
“Just many, many, many things are not clicking these two weeks on hard courts,” the world No. 1 admitted. “It’s unfortunate, but it’s more than obvious I’m not playing even close to what I’m supposed to play. I have to keep on working and trying to get better for (the) U.S.Open.
“There are no real issues. It’s just that (I’m not) feeling the ball well on the court. That’s it. Players that I have lost against both two weeks, they were playing just better than me. I have to deal with that. That’s it.”
Andy Murray nearly preceded Djokovic on the fast track to New York for the season’s final Grand Slam, but he managed to save two match points in a 6-7(3), 6-4, 7-6(2) win over John Isner.
A back-and-forth affair saw Murray lead 3-1 in the opening tiebreaker only to lose six consecutive points. The Scot bounced back immediately to break Isner right away in the second for a 1-0 lead and he consolidated it the whole way. Isner had two chances to finish the job with a break in the 12th game of the final set, but he netted a volley on one match point and missed a backhand on the second. Murray promptly dominated the ensuing tiebreaker seven points to two.
“I was up against one of the greats of our game currently, so having the crowd helped a lot,” Isner noted. “I wish I could have won for them, but at the same time it was so much fun; so much fun playing guys like Andy because for the most part the atmosphere is going to be good. It’s a great opportunity–one I don’t want to say I let slip away, but one I came close to winning.”
Roger Federer also needed three sets to book his spot in what will be a blockbuster quarterfinal showdown against Murray on Friday night. Federer held off Gael Monfils 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in one hour and 48 minutes of entertaining tennis.
“I’m just happy the way I’m playing right now,” the 17-time major champion assured. “I was hitting good forehands; not making so many mistakes. Returning better. So there was a lot of positives out in the match today. I felt I lost opportunities in the second to close him out, but he hung tough and stayed in the match; so a big credit to him for a good spell there. I was able to pick it up a little bit again in the third, so I’m really happy with the match. ”
The loss was a severe blow to Djokovic’s pride and not surprisingly he looked and sounded as flat as a pancake in his post match presser. It won’t have done his confidence any good either with the USO just ten days away.
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