Alexander Davidovich retired this wednesday back pain in his second round match of the Cincinnati Masters 1,000 against Serbian Novak Djokovic. Davidovich, who left after 42 minutes of the match, lost the first set 6-4 and said enough in the first game of the second set.
The man from Malaga will have to recover physically as much as possible to get to the best possible US Open, which begins in New York on August 28.
Davidovich requested the assistance of the physical therapist trailing 4-3 in the first set and went to the locker room for treatment.
However, on his return to the track he was seen with obvious inconvenience physical -especially when serving- and with mobility problems that led him to finally lose the first set.
Very serious in the break between sets and with clear signs of frustration, Davidovich desperately tried to rejoin the match until he felt another sharp pain in his back in the first game of the second set and finally he chose to retire.
Number 23 in the world -his best ranking so far-, The man from Malaga was going through a very good moment of form since last week he was a semifinalist in the Masters 1,000 in Toronto.
Davidovich had beaten Argentine Tomás Etcheverry (31) in the first round in Cincinnati on Tuesday by a clear 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and 18 minutes.
Not counting the duel on Thursday, Davidovich had faced Djokovic four times with three victories for the Serb.
come back to USA
For his part, Djokovic, number 2 in the world, had not competed on American soil since the US Open final lost in 2021 against Russian Daniil Medvedev.
The Serb was unable to play the last US Open and missed the last three North American Masters 1,000 tours (the spring of 2022 and 2023 and the summer of 2022) due to his refusal to vaccinate against the coronavirus.
The United States government maintained in force the obligation to vaccination for non-residents until last April.
Djokovic, who was not particularly in tune with his tennis during the stretch in which Davidovich was physically well, will face Frenchman Gael Monfils in the round of 16 in Cincinnati, who beat Australian of Spanish origin Álex Miñaur, recent finalist in Toronto, by 7-5 and 6-4.