NEW YORK – Annoyed by an ugly neck that a coach rubbed twice, Novak Djokovic doubled seven times and was followed by a break in each set before avoiding the wave of upheaval at the Western & Southern Open by taking the last four games for a 7-6 (2), 6-4 win over Ricardas Berankis on Monday.
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 this for the past three or four days.”
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 hosting the Ohio-based Western & Southern Open as part of an unusual spectatorless doubleheader.
Djokovic got away with it, though he winced and craned his neck between the stitches. He ended up lying on his back – with a medical mask and 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 social distance performance matches he staged in Serbia and Croatia.
As tennis increases, this is the first tournament of the second half for men; the women returned earlier this month – there were a number of surprises, including defending champion Madison Keys’ 6-4, 6-1 departure against Ons Jabeur in an hour Monday night.
Number 2 seed Dominic Thiem, three-time senior runner-up, was not competitive in a 6-2, 6-1 loss to Filip Krajinovic, and number 5 Alexander Zverev scored 11 double fouls – five in his last two service matches – while being beaten by Andy Murray 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
Like Djokovic, Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka emerged with tough wins, and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, the No. 6 seed, lost on Monday. Each of the top two women’s seeders, Karolina Pliskova and Sofia Kenin, were beaten on Sunday.
Djokovic then meets the American Tennys Sandgren, winner for 6-7 (4), 6-2, 7-6 (5) on the 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).
With his shouts of “Let’s go!” Filling an almost empty stadium, Williams were pushed to the brink of their longest game since 2012 before pulling away with a perfect tiebreak and cutting 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 didn’t win another point.
Showing the punches and grit that brought her to 23 Grand Slam titles – against an opponent who has never won a singles title at the tour level – Williams ran away with it, finishing the 2-hour 48 match. minutes with a right and celebrate most points with a yell 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.
“I hit a wall today in the second set, 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 on to 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 thought it might work to her advantage to have a quiet environment in New York. If the usual crowd of thousands were present when Williams plays, Sakkari calculated, fan support would break like this: “99 percent with her, 1 percent with me.”
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