Wimbledon: Djokovic struggles past Stepanek in the 2nd Round - UBITENNIS

Wimbledon: Djokovic struggles past Stepanek in the 2nd Round

By Cordell Hackshaw
7 Min Read

TENNIS WIMBLEDON 2014 – For the past two years, Wimbledon has provided some major upsets in the 2nd round; Rafael Nadal in 2012 and Roger Federer in 2013. This year, at one point, it looked as though Novak Djokovic was going to be this year’s victim. The Serb scraped his way through in 4 sets 6-4 6-3 65-7 7-65 in just over three and a quarter hours. Cordell Hackshaw

Results, Order of Play, Draws and Interviews from The Championships

For the past two years, Wimbledon has provided some major upsets in the 2nd round; Rafael Nadal in 2012 and Roger Federer in 2013. This year, at one point, it looked as though Novak Djokovic (1) was going to be this year’s victim. The 2011 champion and last year’s finalist never looked comfortable on Centre Court against the unseeded Radek Stepanek who had never won a set against Djokovic in any of their three previous meetings. Djokovic would by the ‘skin of his teeth’ slip, slide and scrape his way through in 4 sets 6-4 6-3 65-7 7-65 in just over three and a quarter hours.

Normally a solid server, Djokovic looked shaky on serve throughout the entire match. He would altogether save five break points and never be broken. However, several times he would be up 40-15 and then lose focus and find himself at deuce. Djokovic would save a break point at 4-4 and hold for 5-4 and put the pressure on Stepanek to serve and stay in the set. Stepanek buckled under the pressure as he was down 15-40 in no time. Those two set points would go awry as Djokovic was unable to clear the net with his backhand on the first and Stepanek came up with an amazing shoestring volley on the other. Djokovic was not going to let this opportunity go wasted. He earned himself a 3rd set point and converted with two backhand winners, 6-4. Djoker was not playing spectacular but he was playing well enough to stay ahead as he worked his way to 5-2 in the 2nd set. He would later serve it out at 6-3 and get the 2-0 sets advantage after 74 minutes of play.

Stepanek appeared to be anxious on court as he too sensed a vulnerable Djokovic. He was very alert and aggressive on every point as he figured that he was playing well enough to at least earn himself a set against Djokovic. Stepanek kept the pressure on in the 3rd set and Djokovic was barely getting by on his service games. Meanwhile, he was unable to break Stepanek. Two break points would come and go during the 7th game of the set with the final one squandered on another backhand error by Djokovic. Both players remained on serve and so a tiebreaker decided the matter. Djokovic was up 5-2 and then in what can only be described as a lack of concentration or as he would later label “complicating my own life,” Djokovic lost five straight points to drop the set 65-7.

Now Stepanek was the one with the momentum in the match. He was the one looking pumped up and getting the crowd cheering his efforts. Djokovic would later note of Stepanek, “[He] has great touch, great talent at the net. He covered my passing shots very well.” Meanwhile, Djokovic looked rather constricted on the court. Neither player would see a break point chance in the 4th set. They headed to another tiebreaker. Djokovic again edged out to a 5-2 lead and as before, Stepanek fought back for 5-5. However, this time he was unable to keep the momentum going as he dumped a forehand volley into the net to give Djokovic match point. Djokovic would not squander this golden opportunity as he took it with a forehand crosscourt winner. Stepanek fell to his knees in prayers hoping that the ball was out as he challenged the call. However, his prayers would not be answered as “Hawkeye” confirmed that it was indeed in. Djokovic secured the win 6-4 6-3 6-7 7-6.

“I didn’t come out with my first serve when I needed to in the tie-breaker, and he came back. He fought. It was a very close, very even fourth set. It could have gone either way … I’m just happy to have spent this amount of time on the court, to play a lot of rallies, to return and to serve. Physically I feel fine. This can just help me mentally,” Djokovic said after the match. Djokovic and Stepanek were near dead even in nearly all categories of the match including the winner/error ratio (Djokovic: 54/24 and Stepanek: 51/26). The exceptions were Djokovic had 18 aces compared to 9 from Stepanek who came to net 75 times (won 46 of those points) whereas Djokovic was 27/36 on net points. Djokovic broke Stepanek twice but had 5 other chances to break him. Stepanek on the other hand was 0/5 on break points. Djokovic would next face Gilles Simon in the 3rd round. He would definitely need to raise the level of his game or else he might find himself in a 5-set epic battle to get into the 4th round.

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