Serbian Novak Djokovic, ranked first in the world, was eliminated from the quarter-finals of the Rome Masters 1000 tournament in tennis, by losing to Denmark’s Holger Rohne, the seventh seed, 2-6, 6-4, 2-6 on Wednesday.
The 35-year-old Djokovic, who will relinquish first place in the world rankings next Monday, will therefore enter the Roland Garros tournament after 10 days with a disappointing record on clay courts this year, as he settled for five victories compared to 3 defeats in the 3 sessions he played in preparation for the French Championship, the second of the four major tournaments. .
The 20-year-old Ronh achieved his second successive victory over Djokovic, who was crowned 6 times in Rome, after defeating him in the final of the Paris-Bercy Masters 2022. The Serb has one victory against Ronh in 3 meetings that have brought them together so far.
Ronne, who is making his debut in Rome, raised his score to 12 wins against 3 defeats this season on clay, knowing that he reached the final in Monte Carlo last month before winning his fourth title in Munich.
Ron is so proud.
Ronh said: “I have to stay humble because I can achieve a lot in the future. I’m very proud of this win. It’s a big win for me and I want to thank Novak, he is an example to me and an inspiration to many. He puts a lot of pressure on you and I had to be brave”.
He added, “Every match against Novak is a challenge in itself. He is one of the greatest players in the game. I am a big fighter on the field and I do my best.”
As for Djokovic, he said: “I do not remember consecutive days when it rained like this. In this atmosphere, it was difficult to hit decisive balls against my opponents.”
He continued, “He is a talented and dynamic player, and he outperformed me for most of the match.”
Djokovic lost in the final price of the Monte Carlo tournament and then in the quarter-finals of the Bosnian Banja Luka tournament last month.
Ronne will meet in the semi-finals with the Norwegian Casper Rudd IV, who defeated Argentine Francisco Sirondolo (31 in the world) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.
Djokovic performed poorly in the first set and made many mistakes, which allowed his opponent to win it.
The Serbian’s performance improved in the second set, and after a long pause during it due to rain, when the result was 5-4, 0-30 on his opponent’s serve, he managed to equalize the score.
Djokovic had requested the intervention of the attending physician for the session in the third game of the second set, before taking an anti-pain medication.
Djokovic has suffered from pain in his right elbow in recent weeks, which forced him to miss the Madrid tournament and made his preparations for the Roland Garros tournament not ideal.
However, Ronh hit hard in the third and advanced 4-0, then 5-1, before winning it and ending the match in two hours and 18 minutes.
Djokovic’s last loss came in the quarter-finals in Rome 10 years ago, when he fell to Austrian Thomas Berdich in 2013.
It is also the first time that Djokovic or Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who did not participate due to injury, will not be present in the final of the Rome tournament since 2004.
In the women’s category, Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, who won the 2017 Roland Garros Championship, reached the semi-finals, defeating Spain’s Paula Badusa (35th in the world), with difficulty 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
2023-05-18 07:05:15
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