Thursday, March 28, 2024

Fatigued Djokovic withdraws from Montreal event

Fatigued Djokovic withdraws from Montreal event
July 26, 2019
(Reuters) - Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from next month’s Rogers Cup in Montreal in order to get more rest before opening his hard court season, the world number one said on Thursday. Djokovic, a four-times champion in Canada, said he needs more time to recover after a physically demanding run at Wimbledon, where he beat Swiss Roger Federer in a five-set final to secure his 16th Grand Slam title. “I’m sorry to announce that I decided to pull out of Rogers Cup,” said Djokovic. “With the support of my team, I have decided to give my body longer rest and recovery time before coming back again to play.” With the Serb’s withdrawal, Spain’s Rafa Nadal will be the top seed at the Aug. 3-11 tournament. Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, who injured himself at Queen’s this year and has since had surgery on his right knee, will also skip the tournament. “In del Potro’s case, we wish him a speedy recovery, he who has experienced his share of injuries in the past few years,” said Montreal tournament director Eugene Lapierre. “We look forward to seeing him back on court in the near future.”
Wimbledon: Djokovic beats Federer to win fifth title
Novak Djokovic again proved the toughest nut for Roger Federer to crack, repelling all the Swiss threw at him in an epic duel to win a fifth Wimbledon crown in the longest singles final in the tournament’s 133-year history. The indefatigable 32-year-old withstood almost five hours of Federer brilliance, dredging his tank of mental and physical fortitude to prevail 7-6(5) 1-6 7-6(4) 4-6 13-12(3) in the first Wimbledon singles final decided by a tiebreak. Serving for the match at 8-7 in a cliffhanger fifth set, Federer, three weeks before his 38th birthday, seemed poised to become the oldest man to win a Grand Slam singles title in the professional era and avenge back-to-back losses to Djokovic in the 2014 and 2015 Wimbledon finals. But it was a case of so near yet so far as defending champion Djokovic, who must have felt he was playing most of the 15,000 fans as well as the 20-time Grand Slam champion over the net, fought off two match points before going on to snatch a 16th Grand Slam title. Djokovic, who now leads Federer 26-22 head-to-head, is the first player since Bob Falkenburg in 1948 to win a Wimbledon men’s singles final having saved a match point and he described his victory as the “most mentally demanding” match he had ever been involved in.