Present on American soil for the first time since his tearful loss to Daniil Medvedev in the US Open final as he aims for a Grand Slam, Novak Djokovic held a court in Cincinnati on Wednesday night, French time on Thursday. Spent less than an hour.
Returning to the circuit after a loss against Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final, the world number two had the advantage of defeating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6β4, 0β0, 30β0 after 46 minutes.
At 4-3, the Spaniard came off the court to take a medical time-out. a relief. At the start of the second set, after returning, he bent over in pain and had to throw in the towel.
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He told me that those who have problems in the lower back. It’s unfortunate, I hope he gets well soon and plays well in the US Open.
Novak Djokovic after the resignation of Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
“On the net, he told me he has a problem with his lower back that started yesterday (Tuesday)”, revealed the nickname “Noelle” in a press conference. “It’s sad. I really hope he gets well soon and plays well at the US Open.”
He said, “I really like Alejandro, we get along well off the court.” “We train together often in Spain.”
Both men had kept their commitments until the world number 23 and Toronto semi-finalist was found to have tampered with it last week. Then the duel took a complete turn: three consecutive breaks, the last on a short forehand passing Djokovic crossed at the end of the run to complete the set.
Djokovic 18 β 0 Monfils
Having only been on the pitch for three quarters of an hour after a month without official competition, the Belgrade native could not fully adjust. One of the points to improve in the next round, his first ball: only 41% of his passes during this match.
In the round of 16, 36-year-old Novak Djokovic has been drawn with Gael Monfils, a man of the same age. His favorite “victim”: the Serb leads 18 – 0 in one-on-one battles with the Frenchman on the main circuit. a record.
In the history of the Open era, only one other player has defeated an opponent this far without bowing to him: Rafael Nadal against Richard Gasquet.
π Worst H2H of the Open Era for Men:
π·πΈ Djokovic vs Monfils π«π· (18/0)
πͺπΈ Nadal vs Gasquet π«π· (18/0) π
πΈπͺ Borg vs Gerulaitis πΊπΈ (17/0)
π¨πΏ Lendl vs Mayotte πΊπΈ (17/0)
π¨π Federer vs Ferrer πͺπΈ (17/0)
π¨π Federer vs. Youzhny π·πΊ (17/0) pic.twitter.com/kwahYb9xj9– Games, Sets and Maths (@JeuSetMaths) 4 September 2022
Other posters of the second round in Cincinnati (Masters, Difficult, USD 6,600,000, results are displayed from newest to oldest):
- Francis Tiafoe – Stan Wawrinka: Set for Thursday
- Alexey Popyrin (LL) – Nicholas Jarry: Popyrin lol (WO)
- Mackenzie Macdonald (WC) – Holger Roon (N.6): Macdonald qualified (6-4, 2-0 AB)
- Gael Monfils – Alex de Minaur: 7-5, 6-4
- Stefanos Tsitsipas (N.4) – Ben Shelton: 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2)
- Hubert Hercz – Borna Coric (n.15): 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
- Max Purcell (Q) – Casper Ruud (n.5): 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
- Taylor Fritz (N.9) – Lorenzo Sonego: 6-4, 7-6 (1)
- Dusan Lajovic (Q) – Jannik Sinner (N.8): 6-4, 7-6 (4)
- Daniil Medvedev (n.3) – Lorenzo Musetti: 6-3, 6-2
- Alexander Zverev (N.16) – Yoshihito Nishioka: 7-5, 6-4
- Tommy Paul (n.14) – Ugo Humbert: 6-1, 7-6 (4)
- Carlos Alcaraz (N.1) – Jordan Thompson (Q): 7-5, 4-6, 6-3
- Adrian Mannarino – Felix Auger-Aliassime (N.12): 6-4, 6-4
- Emil Rusuvuori – Andrey Rublev (N.7): 7-6 (10), 5-7, 7-6 (3)
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