Is Novak Djokovic's scheduling reason for his Indian Wells' singles loss?
The former world no. 5 Daniela Hantuchova believes that Novak Djokovic should have played Acapulco or Dubai tournament prior to Indian Wells. The Serb took a five-week break after the Australian Open which, Hantuchova feels, may have affected his match rhythm. Following Djokovic's loss to Philipp Kohlschreiber, speaking on Amazon Prime Hantuchova said: "I feel like he’s also lacking the matches. He’s done skiing and has been all over the place. If you want to play well here - as Kyle [Edmund] is showing - you need to play matches. Yes he’s playing doubles now but it’s a little bit too late. Maybe next year he might consider playing at least one tournament before.”
On Rafael Nadal's dominant win over Diego Schwartzman, Hantuchova added: “I feel like Diego did all the right things. He was trying to take the ball earlier and fighting for every single point. But if Rafa is playing the way he is today, there is hardly anyone that can challenge him in this tournament. Rafael Nadal for most players is a nightmare but especially the way Diego Schwartzman plays He has to take the ball on the rise and push you around. [But] the problem he has is Rafa does everything two to five per cent better than him.”
Diego Schwartzman takes the positives from his straight-set loss to Rafael Nadal in Indian Wells. The Argentinian only won four games and on Twitter, he wrote: "It was not my best match today against a great champion like Rafa. I always feel that these matches go beyond the loss, you learn a lot from rivals like this on and off the court. Next week, (is) the Miami Open."
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2Y3kFpY
No comments