The world No. 1 calmly denied all accusations, explaining himself in detail, before a moderator stepped in. “Dates are something that I’ve been consuming on the court for a while now”.
Advertisement
Sharapova signs autographs after winning her match against Lauren Davis of the US.Sharapova left the court after she lost the second-set tiebreak but after she came back refreshed and revitalised, she raced to victory to set up a clash with Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic. “More than that, it’s my passion and it’s my hobby”, he said. Still, he needed all the energy he could muster on Friday night as he fended off an all-out attack from Andreas Seppi, 6-1 7-5 7-6(6).
The top seed and defending champion saved two third-set points against Seppi before reeling off the next four points to clinch it 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 (8/6), his 33rd straight victory over Italian opposition.
The Serb top seed had a break point on his serve in the seventh before breaking the Italian in the 11th game. Suddenly Djokovic had a real match on his hands. “I don’t know”, Djokovic said. Didn’t use that. He started serving well.
Djokovic said on Monday that tennis corruption was “a crime in sport” but he added at the latest press conference that much of the talk is speculation. Not as many unforced errors.
“I must be pleased with a straight-set win because both sets, especially the third, could have gone a different way”, Djokovic said. The second set had lasted over twice as long as the first at 59 mintues, and things did not get any easier for Djokovic in the third.
Seppi “is not overwhelmed by the occasion of the big courts, he knows how to play the big stage”.
“I think it’s not supported by any kind of proof, any evidence, any facts”. He’s got the game to be really unsafe. If Djokovic loses before the final, the world must end, surely?
“You have to deal with it. You have to deal with it and accept it”.
“The more you win, actually the higher expectations are from yourself and from others”.
“But again, it’s better to be in that position than to not have that success”.
“We’ll see now how the conditions are the next round because Goffin can play very, very, well”, Federer noted. That’s what I always dreamed of. “Yeah, I mean, of course”. But I still feel like I can do more. “So that s something that keeps me going”.
Advertisement
He said he had not practised for a week and was not able to play to “even 30 per cent” of his ability. And he is already a 10-time Grand Slam champion.
