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Djokovic regrets missed opportunities in the final
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Novak Djokovic had his chances — namely, three break points toward the end of the third set, any of which would have given him control of what was shaping up as a close-as-can-be US Open final.
When he lost them all, any hope of lifting the trophy in New York slipped away as fast as a Rafael Nadal forehand.
“I didn’t do anything, I felt, wrong in those few points,” Djokovic said. “He didn’t make a mistake. He served well. He came to net. All the credit to him. I had my momentum from midway second set to end of the third. I was supposed to use and realize the opportunities that were presented to me, and I didn’t do it.”
After a slow start, Djokovic took control of the match in the second set, breaking Nadal not once, but twice.
When he went ahead 40-0 on Nadal’s serve at 4-all in the third — even sending Nadal tumbling to the ground on the second point when the Spaniard lost his footing — it looked like this might be Djokovic’s big chance.
Nadal erased all three, the last with a 201kph ace down the middle, his first and only ace of the match.
“It’s not a strategy to play break points,” Nadal said. “It’s a feeling of that moment.”
The set ended six points later after Djokovic send a shot long.
Nadal bent down and pumped his fist four times. Djokovic glanced over to his players’ box and walked, head down, to the sideline.
The fourth set was academic after Nadal broke Djokovic in the second game. “It’s obvious that in the important moments, he played better tennis,” Djokovic said.
He said Nadal may soon displace him as world number one and has plenty of time to break Roger Federer’s record of 17 major titles.
“Thirteen grand slams for a guy who is 27-years-old is incredible,” Djokovic said.
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