NEW YORK (AP) – Annoyed by a bad neck that a coach rubbed twice, Novak Djokovic doubled seven times and followed by a pause in each set before avoiding the wave of upheaval at the Western & Southern Open by taking the last four matches for a 7-6 (2), 6-4 win over Ricardas Berankis on Monday night.
Number 1 ranked Djokovic was playing his first ATP game in six months due to the coronavirus pandemic; on Sunday he retired from the double due to the neck.
“I’m trying to deal with it on a daily basis,” he said. “ It’s been like that for the past three or four days. ”
However, Djokovic has improved to 19-0 in 2020 as he prepares to seek a sixth title in the last eight Grand Slam tournaments when the US Open kicks off in a week. The site of that big league in Flushing Meadows is also hosting the Ohio-based Western & Southern Open, as part of an unusual spectatorless doubleheader.
Djokovic managed to get away with it, even as he winced and craned his neck between the toes, then lay down on his back – a medical mask and protective goggles on his face – while having his neck manipulated after the first set.
As the tours were being cut off, Djokovic tested positive for COVID-19 in June after a series of exhibition matches with no social distance he organized in Serbia and Croatia.
tennis ramps up - this is the first tournament of the resumption for the men; the women returned earlier this month - there have been a host of surprises." data-reactid="42">As tennis increases, this is the first tournament of the second half for men; the women returned earlier this month – there were a lot of surprises.
Number 2 seed Dominic Thiem, three-time senior finalist, was not even competitive in a 6-2, 6-1 loss to Filip Krajinovic, and number 5 Alexander Zverev scored 11 double fouls – five on his last two games service – while being beaten by Andy Murray 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
Like Djokovic, Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka emerged with tough wins, while two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, the number 6 seed, lost on Monday. Each of the top two women’s seeders, Karolina Pliskova and Sofia Kenin, were beaten on Sunday.
Djokovic now meets American Tennys Sandgren, winner 6-7 (4), 6-2, 7-6 (5) on seed no. 15 Felix Auger-Aliassime, who accumulated 15 double fouls. Another American, Reilly Opelka, knocked out seed no. 9 Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 7-6 (4).
Her screams of “ Let’s go! Filling a nearly empty stadium, Williams were pushed to the brink in their longest game since 2012 before pulling away with a perfect tiebreak and edging Arantxa Rus 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 ( 0).
“I had a crowd in my head or something,” Williams said with a laugh. For me, it was like there was a crowd there. ”
Rus is a Dutch qualifier ranked No. 72 whose flat and left-handed shots from the baseline gave Williams some trouble. Williams lost four straight games in the second set, then did it again in the third, when they fell 6-5.
Rus served for the match there and, in two, was two points from victory.
He wouldn’t have won another point.
Showing the punches and grit that brought her to 23 Grand Slam titles – against an opponent who has never won even a single tour-level singles title of any kind – Williams ran away with it, finishing the match of 2. hours and 48 minutes with a forehand, celebrating most points with a scream and a closed left fist.
Williams hadn’t spent as much time on the pitch since the 2012 French Open, when they lost in the first round to Virginie Razzano in 3 hours and 3 minutes. This was the only first-round exit of Williams’ career in a Grand Slam tournament.
Tennis is mental. You know, it's all mental.''" data-reactid="53">” I hit a wall in the second set today, I was so hot. It never happens, ” said the 38-year-old American. ” So I think physically, I’m fit. Tennis is mental. You know, it’s all mental. ”
She moved into round three thanks in part to 14 axles, one at 121 mph. Osaka used 12 aces to overcome 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-2 against Karolina Muchova.
Next up for Williams is number 13 Maria Sakkari, who is Greek and thought it might work to her advantage to have a quiet environment in New York. If there were the usual crowd of thousands of people when Williams plays, Sakkari calculated, fan support would break like this: ” 99% with her, 1% with me ”.
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Tennis: https://www.apnews.com/apf-Tennis and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports" data-reactid="57">Other AP Tennis: https://www.apnews.com/apf-Tennis and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports
