Grigor Dimitrov hammered Novak Djokovic in the second round of the Madrid Open by 7-6 (6), 6-7 (8), 6-3 on Tuesday claiming the biggest victory of his career.
The 28th-ranked Bulgarian saved three set points in the first before taking the lead. Further, Djokovic apparently hurt his right ankle when trailing 4-2 in the second. The Serb sneaked on the baseline and recoiled in pain, then at once called for a trainer and took a long break to get treatment. Meanwhile, the crowd got irate due to the wait for the game to resume. They turned against Djokovic and began chanting Dimitrov's name.
The 21-year-old Bulgarian admitted that he seriously didn't expect that. The chanting of his name by the crowd definitely cheered him up a lot.
On the other side, Djokovic who concluded Rafael Nadal's eight-year winning splash at the Monte Carlo Masters last month asserted that the defeat had more to do with poor preparations rather than an injury. He confessed that he didn't prepare himself so good and have not touched the racquet for 12 days since the Monte Carlo event. He didn't understand why the crowd turned against him during the injury break. He claimed that he didn’t see any reason for that and didn’t do anything bad.
Later the crowd displayed sympathy for Dimitrov when he apparently suffered from cramps at 5-5 with the game at deuce, visibly disappointing the Serb. He who suffered severe cramp last year at Roland Garros revealed that it didn't affect him as badly as this time. Today he was feeling better and was not crawling.
Previously, defending champion Roger Federer felt comfortable on clay in his first match in two months, sneaking past Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic by 6-3, 6-3 to clinch the third round. The second-ranked Federer opted for a break after losing in the Indian Wells quarterfinals on hardcourt to Nadal. However he immediately took to the slower red surface and went early to take control of the first set. Further, he broke Stepanek thrice in the second, losing his own serve once to finish up the win within 1 hour and 21 minutes. Federer was very glad because the 34-year-old Stepanek had caused him difficulties in the past. Recently, Stepanek is one of the few players on tour older than the Swiss star. The 31-year-old Federer admitted that if he would have been the only guy over 30, honestly he would have felt bit awkward. Federer can equalize John McEnroe's career tally of 77 titles in case he defends the Madrid trophy. He had won on the heavily criticized blue clay last year that organizers opted to get rid of for this tournament. Similar to many of his fellow players, Federer claimed that the traditional red surface was better.
Federer disclosed that the organizers spoke to more experts from the French Open and Monaco and one can identify it as a proper clay court now. Madrid had issues with its courts even before changing to a blue surface. He was well aware of what caused the entire controversy—the color, due to tradition. The court was slippery and not absorbing water well.
Andy Murray had a harsh time against Florian Mayer before outwitting the German by 7-6 (11), 7-6 (3). Murray revealed that he fought against the altitude and found it difficult to breathe at the end of the first set where there were so many long points.
Madrid is 660 meters above sea level. The Scotsman highlighted that Mayer's array of shots also made it difficult by differing the pace constantly. Murray found it hard to explain but if one is playing with someone that plays with a nice rhythm it is far easier to breathe during the points.
No. 8 Richard Gasquet of France lost by 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 to Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain. On the other side, No. 13 Tommy Haas of Germany and No. 15 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland were the other seeded players to march forward. The top-ranked Williams managed a bit to counter her opponent's drop-shots and lobs but stayed in line for a fourth title of the year and the 50th of her career.
Williams disclosed that it was a really good clay-court tennis match for her. She knows that if she encounters another rival like that she will have that experience too and she will know how to play.
Second-ranked Maria Sharapova sneaked past 21-year-old Christina Mchale of the United States by 6-1, 6-2. She reminded that in case one starts late, it's imperative to make sure that one is ready, awake and focused from the beginning of the match. She did a good job in that day.
Marion Bartoli of France prevailed over a fall to oust qualifier Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor of Spain by 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. His ankle was hurting him at the commencement of third set, but he was actually able to focus and overcame the pain.
