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Date: 03 Jun 2010 11:44

Djokovic Crumbles, Nadal Struggles

Tennis World Magazine Tennis News Djokovic Crumbles, Nadal Struggles Novak Djokovic suffered one of the worst losses of his career on Wednesday when he surrendered a two-set lead against Austria’s Jurgen Melzer to eventually lose 3-6, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6, 6-4. The world number three seemed to be in complete control of the match after cruising through the first two sets, but he inexplicably lost his momentum and confidence. "I think he played really well in the last three sets," Djokovic said after the match. "But I made a big mistake there. I made him come back into the match with my unforced errors, and then he caught the momentum and he was playing really well, especially on his service games. I´m very disappointed, obviously, to lose the match that I was in control of totally a set and a break. This is tennis, you know. This is Grand Slams. You always have to play up to the end, because these things happen, especially at this stage of tournament." Rafael Nadal didn’t have an easy day at the office either, and had to fight very hard for a 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 win over fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro. The normally composed Nadal lost his temper towards the end of the third set, when he received a second warning from the umpire for taking too long between points. The rules state that a player may take no longer than 25 seconds before starting the next point, but Nadal is notorious for taken a minute or more, and has often been called out by the umpires and his opponents. "I thought I was being very fast. I didn’t even take the time to wipe my face," Nadal said of the incident. "I didn’t want to be fined or to get a penalty point. I was making big efforts to be as quick as possible. I think the second warning was not a warning I deserved." In the women’s draw, world number one Serena Williams was knocked out by Sam Stosur, while Jelena Jankovic comfortably advanced to the semi-finals with a straight sets win over her opponent.