Novak Djokovic was forced to hang up his racket on the way to the US Open. A sore shoulder caused the number one player to retire on the second set on Sunday, making the way for Andy Murray to grab the title at the Western & Southern Open.
This is the first major bump in the road that the top ranked Serb has experienced since the start of his remarkable winning streak that started in the beginning of the season. Djokovic had won 16 consecutive matches since he lost to Roger Federer in June at the Roland Garros semifinals. Now spectators are seeing the effects of numerous winning streaks taking its toll on Djokovic’s body. He had previously mentioned the soreness in his shoulders after his victory in Montreal in the past week, where he won his fifth title. The shoulder has apparently been bothering him for the last 10 days, but the Serb felt that he could still play with it. That is, until Sunday.
“There is no good loss, that is for sure,” said Djokovic. His shoulder clearly interfered with his game against the fourth-seeded Murray, who won the first set and was leading in the second set. Then the rain poured and it was then that the Serb decided to retire from the match.
“I could have maybe played another couple of games, but what for?” he said. “I cannot beat a player like Murray today with one stroke,” Djokovic explained.
He is still optimistic that he can make it to the Open in time. “‘I am confident I can recover and be ready for the U.S. Open.”