No. 1 Djokovic battles soreness to beat Berankis for Last-16 entry in US Open build-up tourney
Serena Williams. (Right) Novak Djokovic serves to Ricardas Berankis during the Western & Southern Open tournament in New York on Monday. Pic/AFP
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic battled through neck pain on the way to a 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 victory over Ricardas Berankis at the Western & Southern Open, where second seed Dominic Thiem crashed out.
Djokovic, who pulled out of doubles with a sore neck on Sunday, made it through to the Round of 16 despite the ailment, for which he received treatment on court. "It's getting better," he said after the 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 win. "It's been four days. It's not yet where I'd like it to be but it's heading in the right direction."
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That's good news with the US Open starting on August 31 on the same New York hardcourts hosting this week's tournament, which was moved from Cincinnati to establish a quarantine bubble for the upcoming Grand Slam.
Djokovic twice went down a break in the second set, but broke back both times. He let out a roar when he broke for a 5-4 lead then calmly served it out. He next faces American Tennys Sandgren, a 6-7 (4/7), 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) winner over 15th-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Thiem stunned
The upset of the day was at the opposite end of the men's draw, as 32nd-ranked Filip Krajinovic of Serbia toppled Austria's Thiem 6-2, 6-1. "I think I started really well today. I was aggressive and I'm really happy that I'm in the third round," said 32nd-ranked Krajinovic, who dropped just two service points on the way to victory.
Thiem, who pushed Djokovic to five sets in an Australian Open runner-up finish in January, couldn't find his rhythm in his first match since the ATP tour resumed after a five-month Coronavirus hiatus. "It was just a horrible game by myself," Thiem said. Didn't play well at all, didn't get any rhythm. "I had really troubles with returning."
Serena fights back to win
In women's action, third-seeded Serena Williams bucked the upset trend that saw top seed Karolina Pliskova and number two Sofia Kenin ousted on Sunday. The 23-time Grand Slam champion battled back from the brink against Dutch qualifier Arantxa Rus, dominating a third-set to win 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 7-6 (7/0).
Williams dropped four straight games in the second set against the hard-hitting left-hander, who has never won a WTA title. After rallying from 0-40 down in the opening game of the third she looked to have turned the tide with a service break on the way to a 3-0 lead.
Serving for the match at 5-3 in the third, Williams was broken to love, Rus winning the next two to give herself a chance to serve it out. She was broken, and Williams crushed her in the tiebreaker to wrap up a bruising victory in two hours and 49 minutes. "That was tough. It was a real physical match out there," said Williams.
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