Online Reporter
Novak Djokovic was overcome by the heat and humidity at the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters on Saturday, with the 24-time Grand Slam winner falling in his opening match to Argentine Thiago Tirante.
The South American advanced to the third round with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 against the 24-time Grand Slam champion, who hit the wall in the second set but recovered to make a battle of it in the third before bowing out.
The Serb star won a brutal 18-minute third game of the second set after taking the first, saving four break points over nine deuces.
But he was clearly struggling, doubling over or even dropping to his hands and knees between some points. Djokovic took a medical timeout after that game, with the physio and then a doctor coming on court to assist with assessments and ice towels. After Tirante took the second set both players cooled off in the locker room.
Slightly revived, Djokovic soldiered on in the deciding set, where a drop shot gone wrong on his opponent’s match point spelled the end for the veteran —who must try to regroup before the start of the US Open on August 30.
Meanwhile, A former champion at the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters was knocked out on Friday by a South American clay-courter while the tournament’s 2022 finalist survived into the second round. With 64 seeds in the men’s and women’s draw of the last major warm-up prior to the August 30 US Open only going into action from Saturday, interest focused on the fate of 2017 winner Grigor Dimitrov and 2022 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The popular Dimitrov was unable to hold onto a 4-1 lead in the third set against Argentine Sebastian Baez, exiting in the first round 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 as he lost the last five games of the encounter.
The 35-year-old Dimitrov, his ranking down to 138 and playing on a wild card, was bidding for his first Cincinnati victory in five years.
Baez goes on to next play American Learner Tien, a semifinalist this week in Montreal.
Tsitsipas, a one-time world No 3 now standing 49th after a months-long slump in form, got past Valentin Royer of France 7-6 (7/4), 7-5 after struggling somewhat to close out the victory, which sent him into a match with second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime. The Greek led a set and 5-2 but was broken as he served for victory, with Royer saving two match points on the way to 5-all.
Tsitsipas managed a late break two games later on his sixth match point to advance in two hours.
“I’m trying to come to the net as much as possible,” Tsitsipas said. “Whenever a ball is short I try to capture it inside the baseline. That’s where I shined the most.
“I felt confidence running through my veins. My offensive strategy helped me today, my composure was excellent.”—SuperSport
