LOOKING FOR ELUSIVE CINCINNATI TITLE, DJOKOVIC OPENS AGAINST SIMON BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 12th August 2014

LOOKING FOR ELUSIVE CINCINNATI TITLE, DJOKOVIC OPENS AGAINST SIMON BY RICKY DIMON

epa04344792 Serbia's Novak Djokovic returns the ball to France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga during their third round match in the Rogers Cup men's tennis tournament in Toronto, Canada, 07 August 2014. EPA/WARREN TODA |

Throughout his illustrious career, Novak Djokovic has captured the title at every single Masters 1000 event except one: the Western & Southern Open. The four-time runner-up has another chance this week in Cincinnati, where he will kick off his campaign on Tuesday night against Gilles Simon.

“That obviously adds more importance for this tournament,” Djokovic said when asked about his near misses at this event. “I do care to win this title a lot. I haven’t been really close in those four finals. I haven’t been able to perform my best when it’s been needed in this tournament. Hopefully I can go a step further this time, but I haven’t been playing as well as I wanted. These couples days I put a lot of hours on the practice courts, trying to upgrade my game to have a chance to go far in the tournament.”

Djokovic and Simon will be facing each other for the ninth time in their careers. They have squared off once at this Cincinnati event, with Djokovic taking a 2009 quarterfinal encounter 6-4, 7-5. The Serb has won seven in row against Simon since losing their first-ever meeting on the indoor hard courts of Marseille in 2008. The two players most recently collided this summer at Wimbledon, where Djokovic cruised 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.

Simon is by no means in peak form, but he is playing far better than he did during a brutal few months to begin the year. The 31st-ranked Frenchman reached the last 32 at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon and he kicked off this week with a 6-3, 6-2 rout of Bernard Tomic.

Djokovic outlasted Roger Federer to triumph at the All-England Club, but he is looking to bounce back from a surprising 6-2, 6-2 blowout loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Toronto third round.

“I specifically try to get myself in the best possible shape before the start of this event,” the top seed explained. “That’s all I’ve been thinking about (since losing in Toronto). I know my game is there and hard work will pay off. I just need to have a more confident approach. One thing is to play good in a practice session but another is to be in an official match when all the expectations and the mental pressures come alive and you have to face them.”

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: Cincinnati, Gilles Simon, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Novak Djokovic, Ricky Dimon, Roger Federer, Tennis, Tennis News, Western & Southern Open

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August 12, 2014 at 9:44 am

LOOKING FOR ELUSIVE #CINCINNATI TITLE, @DjokerNole OPENS AGAINST @GillesSimonNews BY @RD_Tennistalk- http://t.co/wdVbm2qd5R #tennis #atp

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