Novak Djokovic has filled an entire stadium in his return to USA by merely practicing. There is not an empty seat in the house. Novak Djokovic is bigger than tennis.
Early exit for Djokovic and Cacic, bow out in Cincinnati Open doubles opener
ATPTuesday, 15 August 2023 at 20:56
Novak
Djokovic and Nikola Cacic had a less than stellar start to the tournament and
were ousted from the Cincinnati Open by Jamie Murray and Michael Venus by 6-4, 6-3
After
nearly a month off the courts following his loss in the Wimbledon final against
Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic stepped onto the courts for his first match at
the Cincinnati Open.
This time,
it wasn't in the singles draw, where he's set to debut on August 16th, but in
doubles alongside his compatriot Nikola Cacic, facing the specialist pair of
Jaime Murray and Michael Venus. While both Murray and Venus are Grand Slam
champions, they haven't previously teamed up as partners.
'Nole' will
once again have only Cincinnati as his preparation for the upcoming US Open,
which explains his effort to regain momentum after the break due to fatigue
that led him to skip the Canadian Open last week.
Djokovic's
partner, Cacic, is a doubles specialist who has played just two singles
matches, with one win and one loss. This isn't the first time the duo has
paired up, as they've played together on three previous occasions.
Their first
match as a pair was at the 2021 ATP Cup, resulting in a defeat against the
Germans Alexander Zverev and Jan Lennard Struff. Their other two appearances
together were at the 2022 Davis Cup, one against the German pair Tim Puetz and
Kevin Krawietz, and their sole victory against the Kazakh duo Andrey Golubev
and Aleksandr Nedovyesov.
Unfortunately
for the Serbian pair, they faced another loss, this time in just an hour and
ten minutes with a score of 6-4, 6-2. The Serbian duo struggled with their
first-serve percentage, landing at 45% and winning 70% of the points. In
contrast, Venus and Murray managed to secure a 64% first-serve percentage,
winning 88% of their points.
Djokovic
and Cacic were unable to trouble their opponents and failed to capitalize on
any of the three break points they had in their favor. Meanwhile, their
opponents were more efficient during crucial moments, managing to convert two
of their three break points.
Now,
Djokovic must await his debut in the singles main draw, where he will face the
winner between Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Tomas Etcheverry on Tuesday,
August 15th.
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