Paris: Former world No. 1 Novak Djokovic left it uncertain whether to play on grass following his loss to Italian underdog Marco Cecchinato at the French Open.
“I don’t know if I’m going to play on grass,” the Serbian told a press conference after being stunned by 72nd-ranked Cecchinato in the men’s singles quarter-finals on Tuesday, reports Xinhua news agency.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do. I just came from the court. Sorry, guys, I can’t give you that answer. I cannot give you any answer.
“I’m just not thinking about tennis at the moment,” he added.
Recovering from his elbow injury last year, Djokovic, who finished his sweep of Grand Slam tournament titles two years ago in Paris, had to feature this year as the No. 20 seed, his lowest Grand Slam seeding since the 2006 U.S. Open.
Losing the first two sets 6-3, 7-6 (4), the 12-time Grand Slam winner bounced back to win the third set 6-1 and lead 5-2 in the fourth.
However, he failed to capitalise on the the momentum, and several set points in the tie-breaker, to be forced into the fifth set.
“I struggled from the beginning. Unfortunately, it took me time to get well, and struggled with a little injury at the beginning. When I warmed up, it was better.
“But it’s just a pity that I couldn’t capitalise on the chances of leading 4-1 in the fourth set and some break points that I thought I had in there, but he came back and credit to him,” admitted Djokovic, while declining to specify his issues.
“I don’t want to talk about that,” he said.
“Any defeat is difficult in the Grand Slams, especially the one that came from months of buildup. I thought I had a great chance to get at least a step further, but it wasn’t to be. That’s the way it is,” said Djokovic.
Cecchinato, who had not won a Grand Slam match prior to Roland Garros, continued his fairytale run to face seventh-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria in the semi-finals.
“He went pretty far. Semi-final is a great result. He’s playing well.
“He’s going to play Dominic (Thiem) who is also in great form. Dominic is obviously the favourite, but you never know,” said Djokovic.(IANS)
