Djokovic out in shock loss
NOVAK Djokovic says he does not know if will play at Wimbledon after tumbling out of the French Open.
The three- time Wimbledon champion appeared distraught after his quarter- final defeat by unseeded Marco Cecchinato in which he was treated for neck pain.
Clearly still wound up after a 6- 3 7- 6 ( 7- 4) 1- 6 7- 6 ( 13- 11) defeat, Djokovic cast doubt over his participation in the grasscourt season.
“I don’t know if I’m going to play on grass,” Djokovic said. When pressed on whether that meant he would not play at Wimbledon, the 31year- old Serb was non- committal.
“I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I just came from the court. Sorry, guys I can’t give you that answer.”
Djokovic, who came to Paris with his lowest seeding since 2006 after a difficult past 12 months in which he has dealt with an elbow injury, had begun to look like his old self at Roland Garros, dropping just one set en route to the last eight.
He came up against an inspired Cecchinato though and wasted three set points to drag the match into a decider.
He refused to blame physical problems for his defeat.
“He played amazing and credit to him. Congrats for a great performance. He came out very well,” he said.
“I struggled from the beginning. Unfortunately, it took me time to get well, and struggled with a little injury, as well, at the beginning. And after, when I warmed up, it was better.
“Just a pity that I couldn’t capitalise on the chances in the 4- 1 in the fourth set and some break points. I thought I had him there, but he came back and credit to him.”
While defeat will be painful, Djokovic, who has spent 223 weeks as world No. 1 during his career, will reflect on a positive claycourt season having reached the semi- final in Rome and enjoyed a strong run in Paris before falling short.
In the other quarter- final, Austrian Dominic Thiem destroyed a lacklustre and battle- weary Alexander Zverev 6- 4 6- 2 6- 1 to reach the semifinals for the third consecutive year.