Novak Djokovic survives Cincinnati scare to make quarter-finals of Masters
Serena Williams strolls through against Karin Knapp; Belinda Bencic retires hurt; Ana Ivanovic progresses
Novak Djokovic survived a scare in the pursuit of a first career title at the ATP and WTA Cincinnati Masters, with the top seed holding off David Goffin 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 on Thursday for a quarter-final place.
It was a solid first set, but whatever happened in the next 45 minutes I don’t want to remember it
Djokovic, aiming to become the first man to win all eight Masters 1000 events, nearly found himself on the sidelines as his 13th-seeded Belgian opponent won the second set and went two breaks up in the decider.
But the experienced Djokovic pulled back from the brink, levelling at 3-3 after destroying a racquet along the way, and ran out the winner after a tense one and three-quarter hours.
Djokovic stayed alive despite seven double-faults and five breaks of his serve.
“It was a solid first set, but whatever happened in the next 45 minutes I don’t want to remember it,” Djokovic said.
“Luckily for me I managed to bounce back, dig myself out of this hole I was in,” added Djokovic, who admitted he had struggled to adjust to the conditions.