It’s not new and it’s not underhand
moments around the grounds came inside the main interview room as Djokovic discussed his state of mind as he tries to regain his previous status in tennis.
He sat out the last half of 2017 because of a painful right elbow, tried to return in January, then decided to have an operation in February.
Djokovic arrived at Roland Garros with a 10-7 record this season.
He was at .500 until showing signs of a resurgence by getting to the Italian Open semifinals on red clay before losing to 10-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal.
“Best practice that you can have is a match. I haven’t had too many matches, and I really never thought that I’m going to be challenged in that way, mentally — that I need matches in order to get confidence.
“But obviously I’m learning something new, and, yeah, that’s the case,” said Djokovic, who hasn’t won a Grand Slam title since claiming his fourth in a row at the 2016 French Open.
“At times, I do lose maybe a comfort level on the court and confidence, and that’s something that I’m still building gradually, obviously,” he continued.
“The more matches I play, the better it is. The more I win, of course, the better it is. Hopefully that can keep going.” A young American man trying an underhanded serve while cramping during a five-setter at the French Open. Hmmmm. Seen that before, haven’t we? Except, unlike for 1989 champion Michael Chang, the unusual strategy didn’t help result in a victory for Jared Donaldson against Grigor Dimitrov.
The fourth-seeded Dimitrov came back to beat the 21-year-old Donaldson 6-7 (2), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 in a second-round marathon that lasted 4 hours, 19 minutes on Court 18 at Roland Garros.
When it ended, Dimitrov leaned forward while raising each knee to give it a kiss — perhaps thanking his legs for carrying him to the win while Donaldson’s gave way.
Donaldson, who is ranked 57th, was actually two points from winning when he led 6-5 in the fifth and got to love-30 on Dimitrov’s serve. But Dimitrov took the next four points to hold for 6-all.
Dimitrov broke to lead 8-7 and served for the victory, but Donaldson broke right back.
In the next game, though, Donaldson could barely stand, let alone move well.
He double-faulted. Then he tried an underhand serve — not his first of the match, either — and lost the point.
Dimitrov hit a winner to break for a 9-8 edge, Donaldson slowly limped to the sideline for the changeover, and soon enough, it was over.
Chang famously used an underhand service motion while cramping during a fourth-round win against Ivan Lendl on the way to the French Open title 29 years ago.