There is no cause for alarm after the world No1 pulled out of a pre-Wimbledon exhibition tournament but he, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are all feeling physical pressureOn the face of it, Andy Murray’s withdrawal from an exhibition at the Hurlingham Club in London on Tuesday, citing a sore hip, is no cause for great alarm and of a piece with his season, indeed his career.He will, he says, play on Friday. However, taken cumulatively, the defending champion and world No1 will be at least mildly disturbed his body is aching in more places than he might have anticipated. Since his heroic charge over the closing stages of last season to rip away Novak Djokovic’s top ranking...
Tennis used to be dominated by players in their twenties but the resurgence of the Spaniard and Swiss shows this is the generation of the thirtysomethingThere was a moment in Rafael Nadal’s semi-final victory against Novak Djokovic at the Madrid Open on Saturday when it appeared as though the Spaniard had stepped into a time machine. After a prolonged and gorgeous thrash‑metal riff of a rally, Nadal suddenly turned the volume down from 11 to one. From the baseline he opened his racket face, chopped down hard, and then skipped and whooped as the ball fizzed over the net, embraced the red clay and died.That drop shot, under extreme pressure, brought up match point. Moments later he had secured his...
Locker-room goodwill played its part in the Russian’s derailment at the Madrid Open while the Serbian is looking for a whole new support staff after 10-yearsUnintentionally, of course, Maria Sharapova and Novak Djokovic have injected the tennis scene with an overload of drama. Related: Eugenie Bouchard edges out Maria Sharapova in thrilling grudge match Related: Novak Djokovic goes for nuclear option in bid to arrest worrying slump | Kevin Mitchell Continue reading...
In dispensing with the close-knit support team that helped him to 12 slam titles, Djokovic looks desperate to end his struggles since last year’s French OpenIt will be surreal in the extreme when Novak Djokovic goes on court in defence of his title in Madrid next week, glances up at his box and the growling, comforting countenances of his fiercely loyal Serbian friends are missing. The troubled world No2 called the nuclear clearout of his support staff on Friday “shock therapy”. And it does have the unmistakeable ring of a psychiatrist’s formula, a decision reached after a deep discussion about life and tennis. It also has the ring of desperation. Related: Novak Djokovic parts company with coaching staff in ‘shock...
Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic have changed their games to reduce the strain but can still expect to beat the rest and meet each other in the final in MelbourneAndy Murray and Novak Djokovic can only play each other in the first major of the season in the final, which is a fortnight on Sunday. If it comes to pass, it must be like having a never‑ending appointment with a mad dentist armed with a rusty drill, given they have spent 20 hours and 41 minutes on court here in five brutal matches – nearly a day out of their lives.As everyone is aware, Djokovic has prevailed each time, winning finals in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2016. In 2012, he...