Thirteen aces, 40 winners, and two hours and 44 minutes
Four wins in five matches against top-10 opposition. That is Thiago Agustin Tirante’s record now, and it has stopped looking like an accident. The 25-year-old Argentine put out Novak Djokovic, the No. 3 seed, in the second round of the Cincinnati Open in Mason, Ohio, winning 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
He lost the opening set and then served like a man with nothing at stake. Thirteen aces. Forty winners.
“I think this is the best win of my career,” he said. “I handled the nerves well against a legend like Novak. I feel relieved, because the pressure keeps building when you can’t break through. I had so many break points and couldn’t convert them. The key was just to keep believing.”
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Djokovic saved 13 break points and still lost
The Serb fended off 13 of the 15 break points he faced. Everything else was ugly. Forty unforced errors, seven double faults, 25 winners.
This was his first match since losing to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon semi-finals last month, and the Midwest heat did not help.
“It was not a pleasant match for me, that is for sure. Not the first time, and probably not the last,” Djokovic said. At 39, he pointed to a condition that has troubled him for several seasons: “A condition that causes me a lot of problems, especially when it’s humid and hot.”
He led 3-2 in the deciding set. Tirante won four of the last five games.
Landaluce next, and the seeds keep going out
Tirante meets Spain’s Martin Landaluce, who beat 31st seed Matteo Arnaldi 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
Alex de Minaur started badly and recovered to beat Quentin Halys 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4). Seventh seed Flavio Cobolli got through Miomir Kecmanovic. Jakub Mensik ground out three tight sets against Mattia Bellucci.
More seeds fell around them. Adolfo Daniel Vallejo beat Valentin Vacherot, Rinky Hijikata took out Luciano Darderi, and Frenchman Terence Atmane knocked off Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 7-6 (4).
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