World number one Novak Djokovic suffered another early loss in the claycourts and with the Roland Garros just a week away, this is not a good development.
The top seed was serving for the match against Tomas Berdych in the second set before squandering the chance and letting the Czech opponent catch up to seal the set and the third set. Berdych won 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 in their Rome Masters 2013 quarterfinal match.
This is the second consecutive week that Djokovic had lost early in a tournament. At the Madrid Masters, the Serb exited in the second round after being defeated by Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.
“I know I can play well on clay and so I shouldn’t allow myself to have these drops and let’s hope it won’t happen for Roland Garros,” Djokovic said. “I’m fine. I just lost my rhythm.”
The Roland Garros tournament is the only event that he hasn’t won yet but came close last year when he lost in the final against Rafael Nadal.
“It’s a very strange situation,” Djokovic said. “I played very well and was two points from winning. Then the entire match changed and I was a different player.”
Berdych will next face six-time Rome Masters titlist Rafael Nadal with the latter defeating David Ferrer in another three set thriller.
