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Novak Djokovic Retires in Dubai Quarters Versus Lopez Five Things

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Djokovic
Photo courtesy of Marianne Bevis courtesy of Flickr (creative commons)

Novak Djokovic’s 3-6 RET. loss to Feliciano Lopez, attributed to an eye infection, in the quarter-finals of the Dubai Open was his first retirement in an ATP tour match since the 2011 Cincinnati final. The Tennis Review gives you five points about the world No.1’s controversial defeat that put an end to his attempt to equal Ivan Lendl’s record 18 consecutive ATP finals.

Novak Djokovic lost the first set 3-6 before retiring

Djokovic came into the match suffering from an eye infection, but with history on the line – the chance to equal Ivan Lendl’s 18 consecutive ATP finals- he took to the court to give another record his best shot.

However, the world No.1, playing his first event since his historic Australian Open win, was not able to compete with Lopez, who he led 7-0 before the match.

The 24th ranked Lopez, who won a set off Djokovic at last year’s US Open, was once again playing great tennis, serving really well and using his slice to keep Djokovic off balance and out of his comfort zone.

Check out the tweet below to see for yourself how well Lopez was playing.

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If Djokovic was not already in enough trouble with his eye infection, he was in plenty of strife by the time he dropped his serve to go down 0-1 and then had to save break points to get himself on the scoreboard for 1-2.

After calling the trainer and receiving treatment, Djokovic continued playing and then decided to retire after dropping serve for the second time and losing the first set 3-6. He went up to the net, informed the Umpire and then went over to Lopez to talk to him before quickly leaving the court.

Read Djokovic’s Facebook post about his withdrawal below.

I caught an eye infection that was getting worse every day because I wasn’t resting my eyes enough. Unfortunately,…

Posted by Novak Djokovic on Thursday, February 25, 2016

Lopez looked a little shocked to win against Djokovic in such circumstances (see tweet below), but whatever the situation, the Spaniard did a great job getting his first win in 8 matches versus the world No.1.

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Djokovic was booed by some spectators.

If being injured and being out-played were not bad enough, Djokovic was then booed by some spectators as he left the court.

That reaction from the crowd upset Djokovic and he responded by giving back as good as he got as he gestured at his eyes and questioned their decision to jeer someone clearly suffering from an eye ailment.

Would we have expected anything less than such a spirited response from a man who also responds in kind on court when his opponents give him hell?

Watch highlights of Lopez’s win over Djokovic in the video below.

This was the first time Novak Djokovic had retired from an ATP Tour pro match since the 2011 Cincinnati Final. 

The last time Novak Djokovic withdrew from a match was prior to his 2011 Paris Open quarter-final against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and the last time he retired during a match was in 2011 in the Cincinnati final versus Andy Murray (he did retire from his Davis Cup match versus Juan Martin del Potro a few weeks later, but that was not an ATP match).

Djokovic was once infamous for retiring during matches- he retired versus Roddick in the 2009 Australian Open quarters, versus Federer in the 2008 Monte Carlo semis, versus Nadal in the 2007 Wimbledon semis, versus Wawrinka in the 2006 Umag final, versus Nadal in the 2006 Roland Garros quarters, and versus Coria in the 2005 Roland Garros second round.

While the official word back then was that he retired because of injury, rumors circulated he just did not like losing. But Djokovic worked hard to shake off that notoriety and in 2011, Djokovic went from being infamous for retirements and baffling losses to being famous for being the fittest player on tour, and a man could pull off great escapes from losing situations.

This loss, unfortunately for him and his fans, was one he was just not able to get himself out of.

This was the first time Djokovic had gone out before the finals of an event since Doha 2015.

This was an event which Djokovic had a great shot at equaling Ivan Lendl’s record of 18 consecutive ATP finals. You can see all over his face in the tweet below how much it hurt a man who has been breaking record after record this past year to miss out on this one.

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The four time Dubai champ gave his best to get his name once more in the record books, and in retiring he also did what was right for him- that is how he got to the top, and how he will stay there.

Djokovic channeled his inner Jack Nicholson when he spoke to the press after the match

You have to admit, however you feel about the withdrawal, Djokovic looked excellent in those sunglasses. (See below)

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