THE BEGINNING OF THE END? This has never happened in Novak's CAREER - a SCARY piece of information for him!
IZVOR: Republika - 16.04.2022 | 09:15
Djoković's bad luck is much more than the defeat itself.
Novak Djoković experienced a nightmarish return to the court after he was defeated by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the second round of the tournament in Monte Carlo 6:3, 6:7, 6:1.
- I believed that I could come back and win this match. I stayed off the court, even though I didn't feel like it. I didn't feel well physically. That was the problem. I didn't feel well at the end of the match. I'm going to have to talk to the team about it. I will continue to improve my form in order to prepare for Roland Garros - Djoković said after the match.
Also, the Spaniard managed to take the service away from Djoković nine times, which has never happened to the Serbian ace before, at least in the matches that are played in a best-of-three format.
At the Grand Slams, where he played in a best-of-five format, it did in fact happen to him that his serve was taken away nine times. Marat Safin succeeded in doing that in 2005 at the Australian Open, Guillermo García-López, also in 2005, at Wimbledon, Rafael Nadal in 2012 at Roland Garros and Dominic Thiem, in 2015, again at Roland Garros.
The next tournament, in preparation for Roland Garros, will be the Serbia Open, which will be held between 17 and 24 April.