Novak Djokovic's loss to Dominic Thiem means first Big Four showdown of year wait goes on
The first Big Four showdown of 2018 will have to wait for another week, after Novak Djokovic was ousted from the Monte Carlo Masters by the clay-loving Austrian Dominic Thiem.
Had Djokovic won, he would have faced Rafael Nadal on Friday in the quarter-finals – and thus set up the first meeting between two members of tennis’s elite group since Nadal lost to Roger Federer in October’s Shanghai final.
But Djokovic, though playing more confidently than he has in recent weeks, still looked unprepared for the physical challenge of facing Thiem – a hugely fit and strong opponent who had also eliminated him from last year’s French Open. Thiem showed signs of mental fragility during the first set, wasting three set points on his own serve, but managed to lift his intensity towards the end of his 6-7, 6-2, 6-3 victory.
Afterwards, Djokovic spoke enthusiastically about his progress over the past week, while also revealing that he will continue to work with Marian Vajda – the old mentor whom he re-engaged a fortnight ago – until at least the end of the clay-court season.
“I'm feeling like it's been getting better every day,” said Djokovic. “I played without pain in the elbow, which is important. I have my coach Marian back in the box. So a lot of good things.
“I haven't played too many matches since July. I’ll continue building up. I'll probably play one of the two tournaments next week [in Barcelona or Budapest]. I will decide tomorrow which one it will be. Hopefully I'm going to get a wild card.”
Meanwhile, the British Fed Cup team will face Japan in the small hours of Saturday morning, British time, as they attempt to regain a place in the World Group for the first time in 25 years.
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Johanna Konta and Heather Watson will participate in the singles matches in Osaka, against Japanese No 2 Kurumi Nara and No 1 Naomi Osaka respectively. The day will conclude with a doubles rubber, and then the reverse singles will be played on Sunday morning.
Finally, the UK TV rights to the US Open have been picked up by the online retail giant Amazon at an estimated cost of around £30m for a five-year deal. From next season, Amazon will also take over from Sky Sports as British broadcasters of the ATP tour, streaming live coverage to its Prime subscribers.
