NOVAK DJOKOVIC BARELY SURVIVES THE MATCH WITH GILLES SIMON, HE HIT 100 UNFORCED ERRORS! NOVAK PLAYS KEI NISHIKORI NEXT IN THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS

Written by: Staff on 24th January 2016

NOVAK DJOKOVIC BARELY SURVIVES THE MATCH WITH GILLES SIMON, HE HIT 100 UNFORCED ERRORS! NOVAK PLAYS KEI NISHIKORI NEXT IN THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS

epa05121879 Novak Djokovic of Serbia in action against Gilles Simon of France during their fourth round match on day seven of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 24 January 2016. EPA/FILIP SINGER |

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic survived a nail-biting encounter on Sunday to keep alive his quest for a sixth title at the Australian Open.

Djokovic fought hard to beat No. 14 seed Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-7(1), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena to reach his 27th straight Grand Slam championship quarter-final. The streak equals Jimmy Connors’ mark for second place in the list of most consecutive last eight appearances at majors.

“I was obviously pleased to win the match,” said Djokovic. “But in terms of the performance itself, I haven’t done well at all. [You] can expect unforced errors when you’re playing Gilles Simon who is one of the best counter-punchers on the tour at the moment and he’s been around for many years… I honestly didn’t expect to make this many unforced errors. In terms of a level that I’ve played, it’s [a] match to forget for me.

“I have tremendous respect for his [Connors’] achievements and who he is, what he has done for this sport. He drew a lot of people to watch tennis, bringing a lot of energy on the court, a lot of charisma, just a lot of quality overall. To be able to be mentioned alongside such a legend of course is a privilege. The fact that I’ve played this many quarterfinals in a row definitely pleases me.”

Djokovic converted just six of his 25 break point opportunities and committed 100 unforced errors.

Gilles Simon of France in action against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during their fourth round match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 24 January 2016. EPA/LYNN BO BO

Simon starved Djokovic of pace, especially early in the match, and camped out several feet behind the baseline, making it difficult for the Serbian to end points quickly. When Djokovic came to net, Simon produced some quality passes.

To take the pair’s 11th meeting to a deciding set, Simon got his first break of the fourth set on his seventh break point chance of the set at 4-4. The Frenchman was then unable to convert a 40/15 lead, but closed out on his fourth set point opportunity. By playing deep, Simon led Djokovic to try many drop shots… with little success.

“I think I lost the fourth set because I lost my calm,” said Simon. “At 4-4, 30/0, I just wasted that game with some unforced errors [and] handed him the set. After that, the set was gone. I had to just regroup and find that strength and find that focus that was necessary for me to win the match.

Djokovic regrouped and broke in the fourth and sixth games of the deciding set, before Simon staged a short-lived comeback. The last time Djokovic failed to reach the last eight at a Grand Slam was at 2009 Roland Garros, when he lost to Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round.

“It’s always a bad feeling when you lose in five,” said Simon. So many things could have been different… He put more on the ball. I think the conditions were getting slower also. He was hitting the ball harder. He took more risks and the balls were staying in. From 2-1, 40/0, I think he played only good shots until 5-1. He definitely played better in the end.”

( Courtesy of the ATP and Original Link – http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/djokovic-simon-australian-open-2016-sunday )

Topics: 2016 Australian Open, Atp World Tour, Gilles Simon, Melbourne, Novak Djokovic, Sports, Tennis

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richlittlebath says:

January 24, 2016 at 11:13 am

RT @10sBalls_com: -@DjokerNole Barely Survives The Match With Simon, He Plays Nishikori Next In The #AusOpen
https://t.co/gxgTUmxNT2 https:…

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