Maria Sharapova returns a shot against Klara Zakopalova on Tuesday. (AP-Yonhap News)
MADRID (AP) ― Novak Djokovic needed three sets to win his first match on the blue clay at the Madrid Open on Tuesday, and then stepped up his criticism of the new surface.
Djokovic labored to a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain in his debut on the Magic Box’s unorthodox surface, after top-ranked Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova both beat Czech opponents to advance in the women’s event.
Djokovic, who had already voiced his opposition to the blue clay, was left fuming over the condition of center court, which he said was completely different to the practice courts he trained on before the event.
Novak Djokovic celebrates his win. (AP-Yonhap News)
“To me that’s not tennis. Either I come out with football shoes or I invite Chuck Norris to advise me how to play on this court,” said Djokovic, who like Rafael Nadal has been critical of the new-look surface. “Center court is impossible to move on. I hit five balls throughout the whole match. With everything else, I was just trying to keep the ball in the court.”
The ATP reiterated that the new surface is in a test period this year, and that a decision on whether to use it again will be made after this event.
The defending champion was cruising until the second set when his 137th-ranked Spanish opponent broke for 2-1. Djokovic then made four straight unforced errors in his next service game ― including two double faults ― to go down 4-1.
Djokovic complained about the surface throughout, but managed to get his emotions in check and his game together to take a decisive 4-2 lead in the third set before sealing his 25th match win of the season.
“When you slide on the red clay you have a feeling you can stop and recover from that step. But here, whatever you do ... you are always slipping,” said Djokovic, who hit 20 winners to 24 unforced errors. “Not a single player ― not woman not man ― I didn’t hear anyone say ‘I like blue clay.”
The women’s top two overcame dips in concentration to put away mistake-prone opponents. Azarenka held off Andrea Hlavackova’s challenge to win 6-3, 7-6 (2) after Sharapova beat Klara Zakopalova 6-4, 6-3.
Caroline Wozniacki and Serena Williams will meet in the last 16 after both won their second-round matches. Wozniacki beat Mona Barthel of Germany 6-4, 7-6 (2) while Williams was a 6-2, 6-1 winner over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia.
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
