CINCINNATI: Novak Djokovic suffered in the second set from punishing heat and humidity on Saturday but made a match of it before falling 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 to Argentine Thiago Tirante in what could be the Serb’s last appearance at the Cincinnati Masters.
The second-round battle lasting for more than two and a half hours was the first match for the 39-year-old with 24 Grand Slam singles titles since he lost to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon semifinals more than a month ago.
Djokovic, who claimed the last of his three Cincinnati titles in 2023, claimed the opening set with little fuss.
He won a brutal 18-minute third game of the second, saving four break points over nine deuces but bending over in distress between points and even dropping to his hands and knees after one particularly grueling exchange.
Djokovic took a medical timeout after that game, with the physio and then a doctor coming on court to assist with assessments and ice towels.
After Tirante took the second set both players cooled off in the locker room.
Slightly revived, Djokovic set the pace again in the deciding set. But it all went wrong in the ninth game, when Djokovic saved three break points before getting it wrong on a drop shot to bring up a fourth break chance that his opponent converted.
Tirante clinched the biggest win of his career in the next game as Djokovic again failed to land a drop shot on match point.
The Serb, who must now try to regroup before the US Open starts on August 30, admitted he might have played his last match in Cincy.
“It looks like I won’t be back, unfortunately to play here,” he said, confirming that the sweltering weather got the better of him.
“It was a combination of the heat and humidity, all those things,” he said. “Everything involved makes it worse.”
Seventh seed Flavio Cobolli, runner-up at the French Open, defeated Miomir Kecmanovic 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.
Martin Landaluce beat Matteo Arnaldi 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to reach a third-round clash against Tirante.
Top-seeded Alexander Zverev, the French Open champion who fell to Sinner in the Wimbledon final, was more fortunate, squeezing out an opening 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Cameron Norrie in a match that took two hours and 45 minutes.
Philippines sensation Alexandra Eala advanced after Elena-Gabriela Ruse was injured when Eala was leading 6-1, 3-0.
The Romanian had received treatment on her right ankle just before play was halted by a thunderstorm.
Eala, the emerging WTA star who captured her first WTA title in Washington this month, will next play Amanda Anisimova after the American ninth seed beat Turk Zeynep Sonmez 6-2, 6-3.
Moreover, Alejandro Tabilo beat Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3 6-4, 5th seed Alexde Minaur beat Quentin Halys 1-6 6-3 7-6, Rinky Hijikata beat Luciano Darderi 6-4 6-2, Rafael Jodar beat Denis Shapovalov 7-5 4-6 7-5, 4th seed Daniil Medvedev beat Marco Trungelliti 6-4 7-5, Michael Zheng beat Ugo Humbert 6-4 6-3 while Ugo Humbert got walkover against Casper Ruud when he was leading 7-5 1-2. Agencies
Also Read: Pat Cummins hints at changes after Bangladesh ‘outplayed Australia in all facets’