RICKY DIMON REPORTS ON MADRID MASTERS TENNIS 2016 NOVAK DJOKOVIC MAINTAINS DOMINANCE OF ANDY MURRAY, BUT NEEDS THREE SETS FOR TITLE

Written by: on 8th May 2016
Mutua Madrid Open tennis tournament
RICKY DIMON REPORTS ON MADRID MASTERS TENNIS 2016 NOVAK DJOKOVIC MAINTAINS DOMINANCE OF ANDY MURRAY, BUT NEEDS THREE SETS FOR TITLE

epa05295392 Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic (C) celebrates with the winner's trophy his victory 6-2, 3-6 and 6-3 against Scottish Andy Murray during their Mutua Madrid Open male final match played at the Caja Magica tennis complex in Madrid, Spain, on 08 May 2016. EPA/JUANJO MARTIN  |

Novak Djokovic triumphed at the Mutua Madrid Open on Sunday evening, holding off Andy Murray 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 after two hours and six minutes. Djokovic withstood 10 aces off the Murray racket while striking just two of his own, but the world No. 1 once again showcased his stellar return game and broke serve four times.

 

Although the overall head-to-head series stands at 23-9 in Djokovic’s favor, the Serb has been even more dominant of late than those numbers suggest. He is now 12-1 in his last 13 matches against Murray.

 

“Novak has had a lot of wins against me in the last couple of years unfortunately, but he has done some great things and also deserved this win,” the second-ranked Scot commented.

 

For a while it looked Djokovic would make extremely short work of Murray. The top seed cruised through the opening set in just 31 minutes, but a double-fault on break point early in the second started to turn the tide. Murray held the entire way to force a decisive third.

 

The underdog played well from behind throughout the proceedings, and he even broke back immediately in the decider. Soon after Djokovic added another break for 4-2, it looked like Murray would again get back on level terms. The reigning Wimbledon, U.S. Open, and Australian Open champion fell into a 0-40 hole while serving for the title at 5-3, but he fought out of it and held on to clinch victory.

 

In triumphing, Djokovic regained sole possession of the all-time Masters 1000 titles lead with 29 (Rafael Nadal won his 28th last month in Monte-Carlo).

 

Also on Sunday, Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau captured the men’s doubles title by defeating Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea 6-4, 7-6(5). It was a much-needed victory for Rojer and Tecau, who finished 2015 as the No. 1 team in the world before falling on harder times this season. This is Rojer and Tecau’s first title of the year.

 

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

 

10sBalls Editors Note:

Big Congrats To Ricky Dimon and his Girls tennis team for winning The State Championships. We are so proud of the great accomplishment. Frozen youghurt all around!

 

“149.1 ounces. Some yogurt, mostly trophy. Cost 85 dollars at Yogurtland. Fortunately, they gave it to us for free–after all, it’s priceless.” Photo by Ricky Dimon via Facebook.

 

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