World no.1 and 2013 Mutua Madrid Open top seed Novak Djokovic suffered a 6-7(6), 7-6(8), 3-6 defeat by no.28 in the ATP rankings, Grigor Dimitrov, in his opening match at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event.
Dimitrov took a one-set lead after saving three set points to win the first set 7-6(6). Both players struggled with physical problems in the second set. Novak was down 2-4, but he fought back and won the tie-breaker 10-8 to level up the match at one-set all.
The 21-year-old Haskovo native made a break in the opening game of the decisive third set and kept the advantage till the end to seal the biggest win of his career.
“For 12 days after Monte Carlo, I haven’t touched the racquet. I didn’t prepare myself so well,” Novak said at the press conference. “But I’m not trying to find any excuses for the loss. I tried to do my best. All the credit to Dimitrov, because he was the better player on the court. He was striking the ball really well, serving great, changing the pace and he deserved to win. Right now the only positive thing is that I didn’t worsen my ankle injury before Rome and Paris.”
Match statistics: aces (5-12), double faults (0-6), winners (32-36), unforced errors (45-40), total points won (127-129).
This was Novak’s first match after he won the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters title two weeks ago, ending Rafael Nadal’s eight-year reign.
Djokovic won the Madrid Masters in 2011, and last year he reached quarter-finals where he lost to fellow Serbian Janko Tipsarevic.
Nole’s next tournament is Internazionali BNL d’Italia, taking place in Rome, Italy on 12-19 May. The two-time former champion (2008, 2011) finished runner-up to Nadal last year, so he will defend 600 points.
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Photo: Getty Images
