Defending champ faces race against time Myneni enters US Open main draw, achieves two firsts
Djokovic is hoping to recover from wrist injury to make up for his early Wimbledon, Olympic exits
NEW YORK: Troubled by injury and a private matter that affected him at Wimbledon, world number one Novak Djokovic concedes that time is against him as he prepares to end his grand slam season on a high at the US Open.
The Serb, aiming to win his 13th Grand Slam crown, is battling a left wrist injury which threatens to derail a 2016 campaign that began strongly with an Australian Open victory and saw him complete a career grand slam at the French Open in June.
After an early defeat at Wimbledon, Djokovic suffered his wrist injury before the Rio Olympics, where he was ousted in round one.
“The wrist hasn’t been in ideal shape for the last threeand-a-half weeks but I’m doing everything in my power to make sure I’m as close to 100 percent as possible during the course of this tournament, at least for the beginning of it,” Djokovic told reporters at Flushing Meadows on Friday.
“Sometimes time is what you need as an athlete and because the U.S. Open is around the corner I don’t have too much time.”
Djokovic disclosed that he had been having “electricity treatments” for the injury, which mainly affects his backhand.
“I’ve gotten better,” he said. “I’m just hoping that Monday, when the tournament starts, I’ll be able to get close to the maximum of executing my backhand shot as possible.” After he was beaten in the third round at Wimbledon by American Sam Querrey, Djokovic said he was “not really” 100 percent. On Friday, he described it as a personal issue. “It was nothing physical, it was not an injury,” the 29-year-old Serb said. “It was some other things that I was going through privately. But it was nothing linked to the wrist injury I got in Rio.
“We all have private issues and things that are more challenges than issues, things we have to encounter and overcome in order to evolve as a human being. That was the period for me. Was resolved and life is going on like everything else.”
Djokovic launches his U.S. Open title bid with a match against towering Jerzy Janowicz of Poland and the 2011 and 2015 champion feels capable of a big run at Flushing Meadows. NEW DELHI: The monkey is finally off Saketh Myneni’s back. After coming close in Melbourne and Paris, the 28-year-old reached his first Grand Slam main draw with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Serbia’s Pedja Kristin in the final round of US Open qualifiers on Saturday.
Fittingly, he did so in a place he calls “home away from home”. After all, it was on the American collegiate circuit that Myneni made his name. It wasn’t his first brush with Flushing Meadows either, for the Hyderabad player worked at a country club half an hour away, for five years. No wonder the ‘Saki Squad’ was in full voice at the venue.
“There was a lot of support for me and that certainly makes a difference,” Myneni told HT over phone from New York. “My family, friends and a lot of people I know were here. The US Open being my first makes it extra special. I know this place well, I’ve been around.”
LONG WAIT
It should not have taken five years for someone of Myneni’s calibre to make an ATP tour main draw for the first time. Since returning to India and the professional circuit in September 2011, Myneni’s rise to world No 143 has been steady, if a little slow. He has two Challenger titles and an Asiad gold to his name, but Myneni’s stop-start career has been plagued with shoulder and back injuries.
It has been a similar story this year. Myneni began well enough, falling one win short of making the Australian Open main draw before reaching the final of the Delhi Open challenger. Then, almost on cue, the shoulder troubles sidelined him again.
“I feel that I’ve played good tennis in the last few months but have struggled to keep my body healthy,” says Myneni. “It has been tough but I feel better now and I’m trying to play with minimum risk while still being aggressive.”
As for now, Myneni’s focus is squarely on his first round opponent, Czech Jiri Vesely. Myneni, who saw the 6’6” southpaw from close quarters during Czech Republic’s Davis Cup win over India last year, has his work cut out.
“Jiri is a very good player. I saw him play Somdev (Devvarman) and Yuki (Bhambri) and I know his strengths and weaknesses. But he is world No 48 and this is going to be a different challenge.”
If Myneni gets past the 23-year-old, he is likely to face world No 1 Novak Djokovic in the second round. Myneni isn’t thinking that far ahead though. He wants to finish the year strong and break into the top 100, so that “I won’t have this much trouble qualifying for main draws.”
MURRAY PLAYS DOWN ‘HATE’ REMATCH
NEW YORK: Andy Murray played down fears that his US Open clash against Lukas Rosol will be a repeat of their last stormy meeting when he described the Czech as being the sport’s most hated player.
World number two Murray faces the controversial 31-yearold for the first time since Munich in 2015 when Rosol bumped into him at a changeover during their quarter-final.
“No one likes you on the tour,” Murray told him. “Everyone hates you.”
But Murray, the reigning Wimbledon and Olympic champion, insists that the bad blood is a thing of the past and will not impact their opening round
AGUT DEFEATS TROICKI
WINSTON-SALEM, USA: Roberto Bautista Agut will meet fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta in Winston-Salem Open final after he outplayed Serbian Viktor Troicki 7-5 6-7(2) 6-2 in a dramatic semi-final that lasted more than two hours in steamy afternoon heat.
RADWANSKA IN FINAL
CONNECTICUT: Top seed Agnieszka Radwanska put on a dominant performance against double defending champion Petra Kvitova to ease into the final of the Connecticut Open with a 6-1 6-1 win.