The following from New24:-
Novak Djokovic said he
"ran out of gas" as he lost his opening match at the Monte Carlo
Masters on Tuesday in just his second tournament of the year following his
refusal to get vaccinated against Covid-19.
The world number one went down 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1 to
46th-ranked Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the second round after
dropping his serve nine times in a rusty performance.
"I
was hanging on the ropes the entire match. I was really chasing the result
constantly," said Djokovic, whose only other appearance in 2022 was in
Dubai in February where he played just three matches.
"I didn't like the way I felt physically in the third
(set). I just ran out of gas completely.
"Just
couldn't really stay in the rally with him. If you can't stay in the rally, not
feeling your legs on the clay, it's mission impossible."
Djokovic admitted his absence from most events had been "difficult, mentally and emotionally" but said he was "moving on" ahead of his return at a tournament he won in 2013 and 2015.
Davidovich
Fokina had lost both previous meetings to Djokovic in straight sets, in Rome
and at the Tokyo Olympics last season, but he raced into a 4-1 lead and took
the first set.
The
Spaniard surged 3-0 ahead in the second only for Djokovic to win five of the
next six games and serve for the set at 5-4.
He failed to do so at the first attempt but recovered in the tie-break to force a decider.
Davidovich
Fokina broke to start the third set as Djokovic double faulted, and there was
no way back this time for the top seed and 20-time Grand Slam champion.
"I
always believed that I could come back and win the match, and I stayed there
even though a lot of things were against me in terms of how I felt on the
court," said Djokovic.
"Game-wise,
physically I was just far from my best.”
It marks the first time Djokovic has lost his opening match at a
tournament since falling to Martin Klizan at Barcelona four years ago.
He has not gone beyond the quarter-finals in Monte Carlo since 2015.
"I
knew a few days ago when I spoke to you that it's going to take some time for
me to really feel my best on the clay," said Djokovic.
"That's
historically always been the case. I have never played very well in the opening
tournaments of the clay season
."But it's okay. Obviously it is what it is. I have to accept the defeat and keep working."
Davidovich
Fokina, a quarter-finalist here on his debut a year ago, will play David Goffin
or Dan Evans for a place in the last eight.
Defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas eased into the last 16 with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Fabio Fognini, who won the title in 2019.
Taylor Fritz, the only player to beat Rafael Nadal this year en route to the trophy at Indian Wells last month, overcame home wildcard Lucas Catarina 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.
The problem with newspaper reports is that too often the reporter writes tripe and that is the case here. There are two issues here that represents poor reporting, which I mentioned before the match :-
* In 2021 Djokovic - after winning the Aussie Open - Djokovic did not play for just over a month and was defeated iby Dan Evans n the first round he played in the Monte Carlo tournament. He then went to play in Belgrade the next week where he reached the quaterfial and was then defeated by Karatsev on clay again.
* In Rome in 2021 he played Davidovich Fokina in Round 2 and the latter had a long injury treatment in the first set when he was in fact leading in the set. He could easily has won in the first set - bar for the injury. Djokovic came from the back to win the first set.
I saw the danger signs and mentioned it before the match and the fact is that Djokovic last year struggled in Monte Carlo and afterwards in Belgrade on clay. The next two tournaments are in Barcelona and Belgrade - both on clay. It is likely that Djokovic will do what he did last year - he played in Belgrade last year and lost as well. After that there is a break of a week in major tournaments and the next one after that is the Madrid Open - followed by the Italian Open and then two minor tournaments followed by the French Open Major Grand Slam tournament starting on 22 May 2022.
I can only add what Jean de Villiers said about aging of players a decade ago. He said after reaching the age of 30 he had to train twice as hard to ensure he performed on the same level as he used to before he was 30 years old. Djokovic seems to suffer from the same problem and he apparently is not match-fit at present.