@Sportshorn
It wasn’t a surprise that defending French Open Champion Novak Djokovic wouldn’t be able to defend his crown. His up and down play since winning the title at Roland-Garros a year ago gave no indication he would be poised to win back to back Grand Slams on clay. Djokovic fell in the quarter-finals in straights sets in a Major for the first time since the 2013 Wimbledon final 7-6, 7-5, 6-0 to one of the games great young talents Dominic Thiem. However, it’s the way he vanished in the third set of his match that is a cause for concern. Djokovic looked completely disinterested getting bageled in the third set. It was the first time he didn’t win a game in a set in his career at the French Open and the first time he lost 6-0 in a Slam event since the first round of the 2005 US Open.
“It’s hard to comment the third set,” said Djokovic. “Obviously nothing was going my way and everything his way. Just pretty bad set. All in all, it was decided I think in the first set. You know, I tried. I lost that crucial break in the beginning of the second, and he started serving better, you know, backing it up with the first shot. He deserved to win. He was definitely the better player on the court today.”
Djokovic was shaky to start the match against Thiem, a player he had defeated in all five of their previous career meetings. He was broken in the third game of the opening set which included an impressive 35 shot baseline rally. He then needed 15 minutes to hold his third service game to go up 3-2. After breaking Thiem to increase his lead to 4-2, the second seed had consecutive double faults, tossed his racquet to the ground in disgust and was broken himself. Djokovic later had a pair of set points but failed to capitalize. After exchanging mini breaks in the first set tiebreaker, Djokovic hit one of his 35 unforced errors into the net and Thiem captured the first set.
In the second, Thiem was able to take an early 2-0 lead after the Austrian’s impressive shot making from the baseline along with a superb return after a sneaky Djokovic drop shot. The 12-time Grand Slam winner did have a chance to get back on even ground in the seventh game but another service return error thwarted any hope. Thiem took the second set in just 37 minutes
From the opening game of the third set, Djokovic looked disinterested, knowing the chances of a comeback on this day were slim. Despite a forced fist pump after the fourth point, the World No. 2 was broken in all three of his service games not winning a game the rest of the way.
“Dominic Thiem today is one of the up-and-coming rising stars that, of course, is very hungry to beat you and to get his hands on a Grand Slam trophy. He’s got a really good chance'” exclaimed Djokovic. “There are different players that are in a position to fight for it. I’m not the only one. The world is not spinning only around me. I’m grateful for the attention, but, you know, there are many other players that deserve that, as well….Obviously there are things to think about and to work on, and we’ll see where it takes me.”
Thiem won 24 more points than his opponent, finished with 38 winners and converted seven of the nine breaks of serve he had. His next challenge will be even bigger than the one today. Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals. The “King of Clay” has an astounding 100-2 match record all-time at Roland-Garros and has lost just 22 games so far in the tournament this year.
Djokovic’s quarter-final loss on Wednesday means he will fall out of the top two in the world rankings for the first time since 2011
