Djokovic In Another Grinder [UPDATED]
Call him the new cardiac kid!
Just like his epic Wimbledon matches, Novak Djokovic is in another ridiculously dramatic match. With a crowd of about 20,000 people gathering outside Arthur Ashe waiting for the Justine Henin-Serena Williams quarterfinal, the Novak Djokovic-Juan Monaco match is hitting the three-and-a-half hour mark. Monaco just took the third set tiebreaker after saving a match point. Djokovic is up two sets to one.
Amazingly, in the the third set tiebreak, Monaco was leading 5-3 when a ball fell out of his pocket during the point. It happened once during the match, meaning he lost a point. Djokovic reeled off two more points, before Monaco settled down and took the tiebreaker.
I've got two friends -- James and Goldburn -- nearby ready to provide live commentary on the Serena-Henin match, so here's their take on this:
Goldburn: I think in the future djokovic is either gonna have to get in superior shape or learn to win more economically. he has a tendency to get into these long matches where he relies on consistency. then he doesn't have much left in the later rounds
James: sweet god
do i have to watch this match for 2 more hours
UPDATE: And the cardiac kid prevails. Djokovic wins the fourth set 6-1.
He might be logging too much mileage on this surface to win it all. It's the end of the season, and everyone is tired. You have to be reasonably efficient; you can't get strecthed out by inferior players and expect to have anything left come Sunday.