This is what Grigor Dimitrov said during the Madrid Masters this year when asked about the French Open: “I know the French has never been… we never had a good relationship I thought so far but I think with the time now that has passed I kind of started the season pretty well, on the clay, so I just want to keep on playing that way, keep on winning matches on the clay and of course when that time comes around I hope I can do better.”
“Sorry, Grigor, not this time,” replied Roland Garros, furthering the world No 5’s frustration of not having been able to cross its third round. Dimitrov, this time, lost to Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco 6-7, 2-6, 4-6.
Last year, too, Dimitrov lost in the third round, in straight sets to Pablo Carreño Busta. The year before that, he didn’t even get to the second round. In all, he’s reached the third round – his best result at the clay court Grand Slam – thrice. So, this loss to a seasoned campaigner like Verdasco can’t be called a shocker.
Dimitrov’s French Open campaign could have ended on Friday when he was down 6-7 in the decider against the cheeky Jared Donaldson. But the latter’s cramps saved the fourth seed. “It was one of those matches that I didn’t play my best, but I managed a way to win. And when one thing wasn’t going well, the physical part was great,” Dimitrov said after the five-set battle.
On Friday, too, Dimitrov was good, physically. He was four set points up at 6-5 in the first set. But, as he and his opponent said post-match, it was the matter of nerves. Verdasco survived all four set points, whilst serving, to take the set to a tie-breaker. And, Dimitrov, after throwing away his chances, was demoralised. And, no physical discomfort to his opponent came to save him on Friday.
“I definitely need to take some time off now to kind of reassess the whole claycourt season, to be honest,” he said after the match.
“I think that’s going to be the number one priority for me now to kind of step out from the tennis for a little bit, try to watch some matches and try to progress and get better.”
Like Dimitrov, Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic, too, seemed to play below their best level on Friday. They too had bad days. But some players are capable of winning on their bad days.
Zverev hit 73 unforced errors, dropped serve eight times, served up seven double faults and faced a match point but still found a way to beat a spirited Damir Dzumhur 6-2 3-6 4-6 7-6(3) 7-5. There’s a lot of pressure on Zverev as the second seed in the tournament. He’s perhaps the best bet to prevent Rafael Nadal from getting his 11th title (if both make this year’s final).
He joked after the match that, during the clutch points, he was only thinking about what he is going to have for lunch. But the German elaborated his thought process: “You try to win each point, you try to win each game. When you’re down a match point, you’re not thinking, Oh, how am I going to turn this match around?”
Djokovic passes first real test
If this clarity of thought is what helped Zverev, 2016 champion Djokovic said he had to be patient against the relentless Roberto Bautista Agut to grind out a 6-4, 6-7(6), 7-6(4), 6-2 victory. But the Serb, who’s not been the unbreakable metal wall that he was two years ago, was running low on patience when he netted at 5-5 in the second set tie-break and smashed his racquet.
After crashing out before the quarter-finals of all three tournaments he played on clay this season, Djokovic reached the semi-final of the Italian Open, where he lost to Nadal in two sets including a tie-breaker.
The match against Agut was the toughest Djokovic has faced hitherto at the French Open. This victory, which took him to the last-16 of a Grand Slam for the 43rd time (tying with Jimmy Connors on the all-time list) will give him enough confidence as he heads into the second week of Roland Garros.
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