24. 11. 2010. ยท
Third-seeded Novak Djokovic lost to world no.1 Spaniard Rafael Nadal in straight sets 5-7, 2-6 at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in 1 hour and 51 minutes, in the second Group A round robin match on Wednesday.
Novak was broken in the fifth game of the opening set, but managed to break back immediately for 3-3. He faced two break points in the seventh game, but held to regain the lead. The best Serbian tennis player called for a time out early in the eighth game because of a problem with his contact lenses. After Nadal held to love for 4-4, Nole left the O2 Arena court for a bathroom break to fix the problem, but it appeared to continue to bother him. The 23-year-old from Belgrade won the next game, but then lost his rhythm. The Spaniard converted his second break point opportunity in the eleventh game and then served out the set 7-5 in 75 minutes.
Novak was frustrated because of the problem which broke his concentration. He made too many unforced errors, while Nadal was playing really well. The top seed made a double break for 4-0 in the second set, and kept the advantage till the end to clinch his second victory in London.
This was the 23rd encounter between Djokovic and Nadal, the Spaniard leads their head-to-heads 16-7.
Statistics: aces (7-5), double faults (1-0), winners (17-17), unforced errors (31-15), total points won (55-68).
Nole spoke about the disappointment of having his contact lense cause him such annoyance during the match: “I really feel sick talking about it… It never happened to me in my life. I’m just really annoyed that something like this can really affect the match. My right eye got irritated, and from 5-all I could not play. I could not see a ball, especially the return. It was just terrible. I will try to see a doctor and see if there is something more serious going on and in two days hopefully I can be ready.”
”I know I’m in the tournament. It’s not that I think everything is lost. It’s far away from that. I know I’m still in the tournament. I have big chances to qualify. It’s just that these things make me very angry.”
There are many semi-final qualification scenarios. Novak will have chance to book semi-final spot when he faces no.8 seed Andy Roddick on Friday. If Nole wins and Nadal defeats Berdych, both Djokovic and Nadal will advance.
Djokovic and Roddick have met seven times on ATP tour, the American leads 5-2.
