The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Djokovic

  • Djokovic, Nadal reach French Open third round

    Djokovic, Nadal reach French Open third round

    Nine-time winner Rafael Nadal and defending champion Novak Djokovic both won in straight sets to reach the third round at the French Open.

    Nadal, the fourth seed from Spain, looked at his very best in outclassing Dutchman Robin Haase 6-1 6-4 6-3 in under two hours.

    Serbia’s Djokovic, the second seed, beat Portugal’s Joao Sousa 6-1 6-4 6-3 in two hours and seven minutes.

    Nadal and Djokovic are seeded to meet in the semi-finals.

    Djokovic, a 12-time Grand Slam winner, goes on to face Argentine Diego Schwartzman while 14-time Grand Slam champion Nadal takes on Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia.

    Eight-time Grand Slam champion Andre Agassi watched Djokovic once again, having taken over as the 30-year-old’s coach on a temporary basis.

    “I think the first two sets went very well, the third was was more difficult,” said Djokovic after beating the world number 59.

    “Generally, I felt better than the first round, so that’s exactly what I wanted.”

    Nadal finished his match with a tally of 33 winners and only 13 unforced errors.

    “I was more or less under control during the whole match, so I’m very happy. Winning in straight sets is always good news,” said Nadal.

    “I think I did a lot of things well.”

    The 31-year-old is bidding to become the first man to win 10 titles at a single Grand Slam event, having lifted the trophy from 2005-2008 and 2010-2014.

    His only defeats at Roland Garros were against Robin Soderling in the fourth round in 2009 and Djokovic in the 2015 quarter-finals.

    Nadal has been in formidable form on clay this year, winning his 10th titles at Monte Carlo and Barcelona as well as his 30th Masters title in Madrid.

    There are three, maybe four, players that could possibly beat Nadal.

    Stan Wawrinka is his biggest worry. He has the ability if he is on his game to play the most extraordinary tennis on this surface.

    Of course you can’t discount Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray and then Dominic Thiem who beat Nadal this year.

    Everyone else are lambs to the slaughter when they go out to play Rafael Nadal.

  • Djokovic, Murray chase Grand Slam records

    ANDY Murray and Novak Djokovic will both have Grand Slam records in their sights when they meet in Sunday’s Australian Open final – the latest instalment of their growing rivalry.

    Djokovic, the world number one and three-time champion at Melbourne Park, could become the first man to win three successive Australian titles since 1967, when Roy Emerson made it five in a row.

    Murray beat Djokovic to win his first major title at last September’s US Open , and is poised to become the first man to follow up his maiden Grand Slam victory with another straight away.

    For the Briton, probably more tantalising is the prospect of firmly establishing himself among the current golden generation as a multi-Slam winner.

    He faces a daunting task against the best player in the world for the last two years -and a player who defeated him in the 2011 Australian Open final.

    “I think so much of it comes down to how you play on the day, to be honest,” said 25-year-old Murray.

  • Djokovic ready for final push

    Djokovic ready for final push

    Djokovic will finish 2012 as world number one for the second successive year, after losing the ranking to Roger Federer in July [Reuters]

    A tired sounding Novak Djokovic says he will need to draw on all his mental and physical strength if he is to crown another stellar season with the ATP World Tour Finals title.

    The Serb heads into his opening match with Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Monday evening safe in the knowledge that he will end the year as the world number one for the second consecutive year.

    Whether he can add a sixth title to his 2012 resume, which includes the Australian Open, will depend on how his body has recovered since he was knocked out of the Paris Masters by American Sam Querrey on Wednesday.

    He admitted after the match he began to struggle physically during the second set, having won the first.

    “I want to give my best and at this moment I’m trying to be as optimistic as possible,” Djokovic, winner of the season-ending showpiece when it was staged in Shanghai in 2008, told a Sunday news conference at London’s 02 Arena which is hosting the event for the fourth year running.

    “It’s expected to not always on your top form and especially at this time of year the effects of the long season can influence you physically and mentally also, but as I said, this is a very important tournament.

    “I definitely want to do well, find the mental and physical strength to perform my best and we’ll see if that best will be good enough.”

    As well as a weary body, reports from Serbia have said the 25-year-old’s father was ill, an issue Djokovic was not keen to elaborate on.

    “It’s not the right moment for me to be talking about these things right, I just want to talk about the tennis tournament.