World No. 1 Novak Djokovic opens up bagel shop against Carlos Berlocq
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic came within a few games of pulling off a historic triple bagel in his second round match against Carlos Berlocq, reeling off the first 14 games of the match on his way to a dominant 6-0, 6-0, 6-2 win.
Berlocq is a clay court specialist who has largely shunned the hard courts this season, playing just one hard court event leading into the US Open this summer. The Argentine found himself outmatched from the beginning, failing to earn a game point in the first set as Djokovic swept through the opening set in just 20 minutes.
Berlocq earned his first game point while serving down 0-2, but the Serbian saved it with a volley winner. Cruising on his own serve, Djokovic didn't face a single break point on his own serve in sweeping through the second set with another 6-0 scoreline.
The atmosphere in Arthur Ashe Stadium was electric as the crowd sensed the possibility of a triple bagel, which would have been only the seventh in the Open era and just the second at the US Open (the other one coming from Ivan Lendl over Barry Moir in 1987). Berlocq held a game point on his own serve down 0-1, but Djokovic saved it with a forehand up the line. Berlocq earned another game point one game later on Djokovic's serve and rifled a backhand down the line to get on the board, earning a standing ovation from the crowd.
Berlocq lost his own serve the next game, but then broke Djokovic once again with a forehand return of serve winner. It would be the last bit of momentum the world No. 74 would have in the match. Three games later, Djokovic hit a point-winning tweener to set up match point and Berlocq dumped one final backhand in the net to wrap up the match.
Djokovic will now play former world No. 3 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia in the third round.
Match Facts
- The last triple bagel (6-0, 6-0, 6-0) scoreline at the US Open came when Ivan Lendl defeated Barry Moir in 1987
- Berlocq was competing in the second round of the US Open for the first time in his career
- Djokovic hit 31 winners to 15 unforced errors
- Berlocq hit 11 winners to 26 unforced errors
- Berlocq did not hold his serve once in the match
- Djokovic is now on a 19-match winning streak
Arthur Ashe Stadium - Men's Singles - 2nd Round
Novak Djokovic SRB (1) 6 6 6
Carlos Berlocq ARG 0 0 2
No comments:
Post a Comment