Djokovic survives the Melbourne furnace
SIX-TIMES champion Novak Djokovic emerged from the Rod Laver Arena furnace and into the third round of the Australian Open after putting suffering Gael Monfils out of his misery with a scrappy victory yesterday.
Both men struggled physically as air temperatures peaked at 39.9 degrees Celsius with reports of 69 degrees being measured down on the court surface.
But 12-times grand slam champion Djokovic, playing his first tournament for six months because of an elbow problem, was the more durable as he recovered from a woeful start to claim a 4-6 6-3 6-1 6-3 win and take his record over Monfils to 15-0.
The 14th seeded Serb will play Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the third round.
“It was brutal,” Djokovic who wore a compression sleeve and employed a truncated service action, said.
“I thought, it is going to be a big challenge for both of us. Gael is one of the best athletes in our sport. It was about just hanging in there.”
Monfils looked in danger of keeling over from the middle of the second set and throughout the third – pleading with the match umpire to give them more than 25 seconds between points.
“I was dying on the court for 40 minutes,” the 31-year-old told reporters later after having revived in a cold tub.
“It was really warm. It was tough to breathe. I think it was the hardest (conditions) I have played in. I tried to cool down. But even with the ice towel, the water, I think my body was super warm.”
Djokovic was rumoured to have requested to play his match in the middle of the afternoon, despite the predicted heatwave.
But if it was supposed to earn him an advantage that plan quickly unravelled as he opened the match with two double faults and lost his first two service games.
He then broke back twice to level the set.
“They should put this in the washing machine and start again,” Channel Seven commentator Jim Courier, twice an Australian Open champion, said on air about the scrappy nature of the opening exchanges.
It did improve but Djokovic, with coach Andre Agassi watching on, dropped serve again at 3-3. The former world number one wasted two chances to break back as Monfils served at 5-4 and was powerless to stop the elastic-limbed Frenchman taking the opening set with a volley after running Djokovic ragged.
Monfils hung in for the first seven games of the second set but was clearly in distress – seeking out the shade behind the baselines to catch his breath between points.
Djokovic showed no mercy and broke for 5-3 before sealing the set on serve, at which point Monfils called the doctor and went off court to visit the bathroom – leaving his opponent to roast on his courtside chair.
The third set was a nonevent, but Monfils burst back into life in the fourth and despite breaking for a 5-3 lead it was Djokovic who became flustered as he struggled to seal victory.
On his first match point Djokovic blazed a forehand long, then he had to fend off two break points, before another match point came and went with an unforced error.
Monfils saved a third with an angled forehand, but Djokovic converted at the fourth attempt with a volley.
Champion Roger Federer escaped the worst of the Melbourne heatwave but had to knuckle down to avoid getting burnt by feisty German Jan-Lennard Struff as he won 6-4 6-4 7-6(4) to reach the third round of the Australian Open yesterday.
Looking as cool as a cucumber Federer glided through the opening two sets under the Rod Laver lights but was dragged into a scrap in the third as the 55th-ranked Struff went for broke.
The 36-year-old was momentarily knocked out of his stride when he slipped 3-1 down but broke back to take the set into a tiebreak on a steamy night.
Struff saved a match point with a searing backhand down the line but fell on the second when Federer crunched a huge serve into the corner.
Federer will meet French 29th seed Richard Gasquet for a place in the last 16 as he continues his bid for a 20th grand slam title.
Second seed Federer made no apologies for being scheduled to play during the evening session when the temperature, which peaked at 40 degrees Celsius in the afternoon, had dipped to more manageable levels.
“We know it can be very hot here in Australia. I remember the days when we had four days of 40 degrees in a row a few years back. Now we got two,” he said.
“It’s definitely a challenge. It’s hard to prepare for that in some ways.
“But you know when you come down here that can happen. I’m happy I played at night. But I would back myself playing during the daytime also.”
Federer broke the Struff serve in the fifth game when he ripped a forehand past the advancing German.
That proved enough to take the first set and he needed just one break, this time achieved with a rasping backhand pass, to claim the decisive break at 3-3 in the second.
Federer could never truly relax though and Struff broke for a 3-1 lead in the third set with some forceful tennis.
His advantage did not last long though as Federer replied in the next game and from then on Federer assumed control. – Reuters