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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