Print
16 August 2012| last updated at 07:47AM

TENNIS: Djokovic in travel spin at Masters



0 comments

QUICK-CHANGE: Serbian ace living life on the fast lane as Williams sisters and Samantha advance

CINCINNATI: ATP Cincinnati Masters second seed  Novak Djokovic says he has to remind himself which continent he is on as his  fast-paced schedule spins swiftly with the Olympics done and the US Open near.

"If you don't keep track of time and places where you are, it happens -- sometimes you wake up and say, 'OK, which time zone am I in right now?,'" Djokovic said.

Djokovic made the quick-change from Wimbledon Olympic grass to Toronto hardcourts last week to win Canada's Masters event.

"It's the way it is for everybody, mostly for top players," he said.

"We are aware of the fact that Olympic Games are going to make our schedule more difficult and busier than previous years.

"That's what happens always in the tennis schedule when you have Olympic year coming up. We all tried to work our schedule around that. For now, I'm feeling good."

Djokovic played his opening match yesterday against Italian Andreas Seppi, with top seed Roger Federer and Olympic gold medalist Andy Murray also opening then.

In Tuesday first-round matches, US 10th seed Mardy Fish ousted Spain's Feliciano Lopez 6-2, 6-3 while longtime friend and two-time tournament champion Andy Roddick lost to Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.

"I felt fine early on, and then I had one lunge forehand and the back kind of goes out or spasms a little bit. It got progressively worse," Roddick said.

"I feel a lot better about where my game is at now -- today was just one of those things, what are you going to do about it?"

German Tommy Haas continued his fighting return to top form by outlasting Argentine David Nalbandian 6-7 (0-7), 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 in a match lasting almost 3 1/2 hours.

Haas won the Halle title in June on grass over Federer and played in finals at Hamburg and Washington. He reached the quarter-finals last week in Toronto and has lined up a Cincinnati date with Olympic bronze medalist Juan Martin del Potro, the eighth seed.

Japan's 14th seed Kei Nishikori opened with a victory over Marcel Granollers 6-1, 6-2.

In women's play, unseeded Olympic doubles champion Venus Williams found herself in a struggle with Russian Maria Kirilenko, the 12th seed, before pulling out a 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2 first-round win in nearly 21/2 hours.

The 32-year-old American was helped by 11 aces but did not do herself any favours as she failed to serve out a straight-sets win.

"I think I was putting too much emphasis on my serve," Venus said. "I wanted to win it off the serve, and then when I had to hit some groundstrokes I just wasn't patient enough.

"I should have stuck in there and worked the point and hit a lot of balls and be ready to win the point. I got a little impatient, and that doesn't work, especially against a player like her. I changed my ways in the third."

Venus was joined with a sloppy win by younger sister Serena as the second seed dispatched Eleni Daniilidou of Greece 6-3, 6-4 for a third-round place despite 44 unforced errors.

The winner said that switching from the Olympic grass to the hardcourts meant an abrupt change.

"It's just a tough turnaround. I think I'll be okay just getting that match under my belt," she said.

"When you're playing on grass and then you go to hardcourt, especially this hardcourt in particular is playing a little slower than other hardcourts."

US Open winner Samantha Stosur made heavy weather of a win over Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4 while Swede Johanna Larsson upset French eighth seed Marion Bartoli 6-4, 6-2.

Russian Elena Makarova eliminated Nadia Petrova when her 15th-seeded compatriot trailed 7-6 (10-8), 3-1. AFP

“We all tried to work our schedule around that. ” - Novak Djokovic

Samantha Stosur serves against Anabel Medina Garrigues on Tuesday. Samatha won 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4. AFP pic

1 / 2
Related Articles

Leave Your Comment


Leave Your Comment:

New Straits Times reserves the right not to publish offensive or abusive comments and those of hate speech, harassment, commercial promos and invasion of privacy. Your IP will be logged and may be used to prevent further submission.The views expressed here are that of the members of the public and unless specifically stated are not those of NST.