Novak Djokovic deals with pain, Roger Federer faces deficit at US Open

NEW YORK — Maybe, just maybe, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer are feeling some lingering after-effects of their historic Wimbledon final last month.

For Djokovic, it’s in the form of a left shoulder that is hurting right now and probably contributed to slower-than-usual serves in the U.S. Open’s second round Wednesday night.


For Federer, it’s in the form of slow starts: He’s lost the opening set each of his first two matches at Flushing Meadows for the first time in 19 times he’s entered the Grand Slam tournament.

If they’re going to reprise their rivalry late next week in the semifinals, both will need to improve.

Djokovic was repeatedly visited by a trainer for shoulder massages at changeovers during a ragged 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-1 victory over 56th-ranked Juan Ignacio Londero of Argentina. Djokovic is a righty, of course, but he uses his other hand both for ball tosses on serves and on his two-fisted backhand — and both were less effective for stretches.

“I was definitely tested. This is something I’ve been carrying for a quite a while now,” said Djokovic, who repeatedly shook his left arm between points while serving in his first-round match Monday and did that again this time. “It wasn’t easy playing with the pain and you have to fight and hope you get lucky with some shots.”


Even though he won for the 35th time in his past 36 Slam matches, including in a fifth-set tiebreaker against Federer at the All England Club on July 14, the Serb looked uncomfortable and went away for stretches, including trailing 3-0 in the second set.

Asked how he plans to prepare for his next match Friday, Djokovic replied with a laugh: “I’ll probably freeze my arm for 48 hours, not do anything with it, and then see what happens.”

Federer, meanwhile, is not about to start trying new tricks now, despite needing to come back twice already.

He got to the third round by beating Damir Dzumhur 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 on an afternoon when rain postponed all but nine scheduled singles matches and every doubles contest.

Still, it’s not as if the guy is going to seek some sort of magic solution. Working up more of a sweat in the gym before heading to the court, say. Or playing an extra practice set.


What he chose to focus on, instead, is looking on the bright side: “Can only do better,” Federer said, “which is a great thing, moving forward.”

At a Flushing Meadows flush with surprises so far — half of the top 12 seeded men already were gone by the time Federer stepped into Arthur Ashe Stadium — he cleaned up his act quickly.

Indeed, Federer was one of the lucky ones who will stay on the usual play-one-day, get-a-day-off Grand Slam schedule. Only matches at Ashe or Louis Armstrong Stadium, the event’s two arenas with a retractable roof, were held.

That included a loss by two-time champion Venus Williams to No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina, and victories for No. 2 Ash Barty, No. 3 Karolina Pliskova and 2017 runner-up Madison Keys on the women’s side, and a win for No. 7 Kei Nishikori on the men’s.

The night program included Williams’ younger sister, Serena, against 17-year-old American Caty McNally.

“You go through a little phase where you don’t start so well and everybody asks you right away, ‘What are you going to do?’ You’re like, I don’t know. Just go back to the drawing board. Just do the same things again. You hope for a better outcome,” said Federer, owner of a total of 20 major trophies, four ahead of Djokovic. “I don’t think there is, per se, a secret to a good start, other than warming up well, being well-prepared mentally, not underestimating your opponent. I did all of that. You know me, I will always do that.”

He also ceded the first set to 190th-ranked Sumit Nagal of an eventual four-set victory Monday.

Federer called that pattern “just a bit frustrating, more than anything, especially when the level is that low and there is that many errors and the energy is not kind of there.”

Against Dzumhur, who is ranked No. 99 now but has been as high as No. 23, Federer fell behind 4-0 after all of 15 minutes. He was sluggish and his shots were off-target, to the tune of 12 unforced errors within the match’s first 19 points.

“Basically,” Federer concluded, “the entire set, just sort of donated.”


Hardly ideal, on this particular day or in the big picture: Never in the 107-year history of the tournament has a man gone on to claim the trophy after losing the first set in both of his first two matches.

What matters right now, of course, is that Federer is still in the draw.

Borna Coric, who was seeded 12th, was the latest to exit, withdrawing because of a lower back strain before he was supposed to face Grigor Dimitrov on Wednesday. That followed losses Tuesday by a quartet of top-10 men all on Rafael Nadal’s half of the bracket: No. 4 Dominic Thiem, No. 8 Stefanos Tsitsipas, No. 9 Karen Khachanov and No. 10 Roberto Bautista Agut.

source: sports.inquirer.net

‘Finally clicked’: Naomi Osaka says better focus behind stellar run

Her chopstick skills might not be the best but Naomi Osaka says an improvement in her focus is behind a run of success that culminated in winning the US Open.

The 20-year-old, who stunned Serena Williams to win her maiden Grand Slam last month, was devastating against 10th seed Julia Goerges of Germany on Thursday, winning 6-1, 6-2 in 65 minutes to speed into the China Open quarter-finals.


Osaka, the eighth seed in Beijing, similarly thrashed unseeded American Danielle Collins 6-1, 6-0 in the previous round and is showcasing the ruthlessness that saw her beat Williams in a controversial New York final.

The Japanese will face home hope Zhang Shuai in the last eight in the Chinese capital after Zhang pulled off a shock in defeating three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber.

China Open organizers have had the players competing in a “chopstick challenge” and Zhang and the German Kerber are currently winning.

Told that she was well behind both with her score, Osaka joked: “We’re not talking about that.

“Come on, with Shuai, let’s face it… But the thing is, I hold chopsticks in a weird way anyways.”

Turning more serious, the world number six, said: “On the court I have to think ‘focus’ because it’s not something that’s natural to me.

“It’s something that I’ve been working on throughout this whole year and I think it finally clicked, or at least it’s more consistent.”

Osaka, who appears increasingly at ease with the media, joking and chatting freely, said that she had also brought more consistency to her game.

“Not so many unforced errors (compared to a year ago). I’m not sure how many I hit today, but sometimes last year I think I was hitting a lot.”

Osaka meets unseeded Zhang next after the Chinese world number 45 emerged from a see-saw battle with third seed Kerber.

Zhang, 29, grabbed the first set 6-1, before reigning Wimbledon champion Kerber fought back to win the second 6-2.

Zhang stepped up a gear in the decider, taking the set with a comprehensive 6-0 to thrill the home crowd.

Kerber said that she had been troubled by a problem with her right knee, but refused to blame that for the defeat.

“I was not feeling the best at the beginning of the match, but then I was playing better and better,” said the 30-year-old.

“At the end she played a good third set — she took her chances and played a really solid match.”

source: sports.inquirer.net

Djokovic tops Nishikori for 8th US Open final

Novak Djokovic reached his eighth U.S. Open final by beating Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.

Djokovic is bidding for his third title at Flushing Meadows and 14th Grand Slam trophy overall.

The No. 6-seeded Djokovic missed last year’s tournament with an injured right elbow.


He will face Juan Martin del Potro in Sunday’s final. Del Potro advanced when Rafael Nadal retired after the second set with a knee injury.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Djokovic gets through on hot day; Federer next at US Open?

NEW YORK — Facing much more resistance from the 90-degree heat and 50-percent humidity than from his outclassed opponent, Novak Djokovic figured he can count on cooler conditions during a night match at the U.S. Open his next time out.

The next foe? That could be Roger Federer.

Djokovic left the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium for a medical timeout — the second time during the tournament he’s sought help from a doctor because of harsh weather — during what would become an otherwise straightforward 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 victory over 68th-ranked Joao Sousa of Portugal on Monday in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows.


“I’m not 21 anymore. That was 10 years ago. I still don’t feel old. But at the same time, there is a little biological clock that is not really working in your favor,” the No. 6-seeded Djokovic told the crowd afterward. “Sometimes, you just have to survive.”

He reached the quarterfinals for an 11th consecutive appearance in New York as he bids for a third U.S. Open championship and 14th Grand Slam trophy. To add to his resume, though, he might need to beat Federer, who has won five of his men’s-record 20 major titles at Flushing Meadows.

Federer was scheduled to play 55th-ranked John Millman of Australia in the fourth round on Monday night. Like Sousa, Millman had never before made it this far at a Slam.

The other quarterfinal on the bottom half of the draw will be a rematch of the 2014 U.S. Open final: No. 7 Marin Cilic against No. 21 Kei Nishikori. Cilic, who beat Nishikori four years ago for his only major title, was a 7-6 (6), 6-2, 6-4 winner against No. 10 David Goffin, while Nishikori advanced by defeating Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-2, 7-5.

Both Nishikori and Djokovic missed last year’s U.S. Open with arm injuries.

Asked Monday whether he thought during that time away about returning to the height of his powers, Djokovic replied: “I have imagined. I have hoped for. I have prayed for that.”

He improved to 28-0 at the U.S. Open against opponents ranked outside the top 50, and here’s another reason it wasn’t all that surprising the way things went against Sousa: Djokovic is now 5-0 in their head-to-head series, taking all 14 sets they’ve played against each other.

The heat, though, is much tougher on Djokovic, who showed the same blank expression, rosy cheeks and sweat-soaked shirt as during his first-round match last week. That was the first time in tournament history that the U.S. Open created an extreme heat policy for men’s matches — players can opt for a 10-minute break between the third and fourth sets — similar to what’s standard on the women’s tour, when there can be a delay between the second and third sets.


“It’s not easy,” Djokovic said, “to play in these kind of conditions.”

His match didn’t get to the point of a heat interruption, because he wrapped it up in straight sets, but that did come into play for a couple of women’s matches.

It was most striking during Lesia Tsurenko’s 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-2 win against Marketa Vondrousova, in which both players seemed affected by the temperature and mugginess.

Tsurenko left the court for a health check after the first set and often leaned on her racket between points, saying later she felt dizzy at the Grandstand court, which doesn’t offer shade the way the tournament’s two bigger arenas do.

Vondrousova wasn’t all that sure Tsurenko had issues.

“I don’t think she was struggling so much,” Vondrousova said. “She was just acting.”

The 19-year-old Vondrousova, who said she dealt with cramping, certainly helped decide the outcome: Of Tsurenko’s 107 points, only 17 came via winners; 73 were her opponent’s unforced errors.

Also into the quarterfinals: 2017 runner-up Madison Keys of the U.S. and No. 20 Naomi Osaka of Japan. Osaka beat No. 26 Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 to earn her first trip to a Grand Slam quarterfinal. The 20-year-old Osaka was already the first Japanese woman to get to the fourth round in New York since 2004.

Keys overwhelmed No. 29 Dominika Cibulkova 6-1, 6-3 thanks to a 25-7 edge in winners and now will face No. 30 Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain. Suarez Navarro became the first player to beat five-time major champion Maria Sharapova in a U.S. Open night match, eliminating her 6-4, 6-3.

Sharapova won the 2006 title in New York, but she’s now lost in the fourth round in her past three appearances.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Djokovic, Serena reign despite sudden impact shocks

PARIS - Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams celebrated seasons of epic proportions, claiming six of eight Grand Slam titles in a march to greatness dented only by two players producing once-in-a-lifetime performances.

Djokovic ended 2015 with 11 titles, 82 wins and just six defeats in a haul which included three of the four majors—the Australian and US Opens and Wimbledon.

His on-court earnings of $21 million swelled his career total to a mind-boggling $94 million while the 28-year-old Serb now has 10 Grand Slam titles among his 59 career trophies.

Djokovic won six of the nine Masters and topped it off with a fourth successive end-of-season World Tour Finals triumph in London.

"I'm very proud to have these achievements with my team," said Djokovic. "It's been a long season, but the best of my life."

Djokovic reached the final of every tournament he played with the exception of his 2015 bow in Doha where Ivo Karlovic stunned him in the quarter-finals.

From then on it was one-way traffic—indoors, outdoors, hardcourt, clay and grass— the Australian Open, Masters in Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo and Rome and then Wimbledon, US Open, Beijing, the Shanghai and Paris Masters and London

But Djokovic was still left with a case of 'what might have been' thanks to a single-handed backhand blitz delivered by Stan Wawrinka at Roland Garros where a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 defeat left him still seeking a first French Open and a career Grand Slam.

Wawrinka fired 59 winners past Djokovic who finished runner-up for the third time in four years. The defeat left him in tears.

Roger Federer, who hasn't added to his 17 majors since 2012 Wimbledon, continued to defy the critics.

Despite passing 34 in August, the Swiss reached the Wimbledon and US Open finals and handed Djokovic a rare defeat in the round-robin section of the World Tour Finals before the Serb swept to a comfortable revenge in the title match.

The Swiss ended the year at three in the world and then ended his two-year partnership with coach Stefan Edberg.

Andy Murray finished at two after a season which saw him win his first titles on clay, announce that he will become a father in February and lead Britain to a first Davis Cup in 79 years.

Vinci stunner

Meanwhile, 14-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal may have lost his iron-grip on the French Open and suffer his worst rankings slump in a decade, but there were encouraging signs of life as the year ticked away.

He made the finals in Basel and Beijing and the semi-finals in London before ending 2015 back at five in the world.

The men's tour also endured a seedy controversy when controversial Nick Kyrgios was fined for an ugly sex slur aimed at Wawrinka in Montreal.

What Wawrinka did to Djokovic in Paris in June, unheralded Italian Roberta Vinci did to Serena Williams in New York in September.

Williams was looking to complete the calendar Grand Slam and win a 22nd major.

She looked on course for a routine semi-final win when she took the first set 6-2 against the 32-year-old, wafer-thin Italian who was playing in her first last-four clash at the highest level.

But from nowhere, the world number 43 raced through the next two sets for a famous win and a place in the final against fellow Italian and childhood friend Flavia Pennetta.

Pennetta triumphed for a first Grand Slam crown and promptly announced her retirement.

Williams was so stunned that she called time on her season, sitting out the last three months, an absence which helped Agnieszka Radwanska lift the WTA Championship title.

Williams was still the standout player of 2015, winning five titles in all, including the Australian and French Opens and Wimbledon.

Her record read 53 wins against just three losses and she finished as the year-end world number one for a fifth time and third consecutive season.

She also inflicted a 17th successive win over long-time rival Maria Sharapova in the Wimbledon semi-finals with the Russian star then forced to sit out the US Open with a leg injury.

Sharapova recovered her fitness to make a rare Fed Cup appearance in November's final against the Czech Republic but even her two singles wins weren't enough to prevent a 3-2 win for the Czechs. —Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com