Djokovic loses on return in Cincinnati
Novak Djokovic suffered an unexpected second-round defeat at the Cincinnati tournament in his first match since his Wimbledon semifinal, losing to Argentina's Thiago Tirante. Germany's Alexander Zverev faces Britain's Cameron Norrie later tonight.
Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic, ranked fifth in the world, suffered a surprising defeat in the second round of the Cincinnati tournament. His opponent was Argentina's Thiago Tirante, currently ranked 65th, who has previously reached as high as 52nd. Tirante won 6:2, 4:6, 4:6.
Djokovic had received a bye in the first round, and this was his first match since reaching the Wimbledon semifinal on July 10. The 39-year-old Serb entered the match as a heavy favorite, with bookmakers offering odds of 1.25 on his win.
In the first set, 25-year-old Tirante managed to stay level at 2:2 before Djokovic pulled away to take the remaining games and the set. In the third set, Djokovic didn't allow his opponent to reach even 40-40 in his own service games, but in the penultimate game Tirante broke Djokovic's serve on his fourth attempt, deciding the match.
Statistically, Djokovic trailed in first-serve points won (78% versus 88%) and total points won (94 to 100). On break points, the tally was 2 of 6 for Djokovic against 2 of 15 for Tirante. The aces-to-double-faults ratio was 5-7 for the Serb and 13-5 for Tirante. In winners versus unforced errors, Djokovic recorded 25-40 while Tirante had 40-37.
The win marks the finest of Tirante's career so far.
Other results
Germany's top player Alexander Zverev will play his second-round match tonight against Britain's Cameron Norrie, who has previously been ranked as high as eighth in the world. Zverev is considered the favorite at odds of 1.26, and leads their head-to-head record 7-2.
Australia's Alex de Minaur and Italy's Flavio Cobolli have also already advanced to the third round.
