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By Chris Oddo | Friday March 23, 2018

 
Novak Djokovic

Benoit Paire ended Novak Djokovic's 16-match winning streak at the Miami Open to take his place in the third round.

Photo Source: Clive Brunskill/Getty

Novak Djokovic fell in straight sets to Benoit Paire at the Miami Open, 6-3, 6-4, and saw his 16-match winning streak at the Miami Open come to a screeching halt. The Serb, a six-time champion at Key Biscayne was hoping to get his game on track on the North American hard courts this March but he has created more questions about his future with two head-scratching performances at Indian Wells and Miami.

Djokovic: It's Not Working

When all is said and done we might find that this test run may have come too soon for Djokovic, who had a medical intervention on is injured right elbow last month.

Rushing back to competition may proof to serve a purpose; Djokovic appears to be healthy and that’s a good thing. As far as his form goes, however, there’s rust, apprehension and a lack of energy that can likely be attributed to worries about the long-term health of his elbow and the shock of plungint into tennis’ deep end after spending most of the last nine months on the sidelines.

“I wanted to come to Indian Wells and Miami because I wanted to see whether I can play a match,” Djokovic said after dropping 42-6 lifetime at Miami and 3-3 overall on the season. “I love playing on the hard court. I wanted to get a couple tournaments before the clay court season starts.”


Based on Friday’s effort against the mercurial Paire, the Serb will certainly need more time to get his game sorted. Djokovic was easy to break, easy to throw off balance and easily overpowered by pace in a match that featured a lot of indecision and not much of the crispness and fleet-footedness that we have become accustomed to seeing from Djokovic over the years.

It was strange to see the player who has dominated hard court tennis so convincingly in the very recent past be so far off his game, and yet again it is completely understandable. Djokovic simply hasn’t had the time to sharpen his game and, perhaps most important, time to rekindle the fire that burned so brightly in him as he stormed the tennis world and became the game’s pre-eminent player from 2014 to 2016.

Djokovic may have lost his mojo for the time being, but the honesty and the ability to dig deep and analyze his performance and emotional state still remain .

“I mean, there are tougher injuries that players go through,” he said. “I don't want to sit here and whine about my last couple of years. The truth is that it wasn't easy. Obviously I compromised my game and the movement and everything because of the injury. I'm trying to figure things out.”

On Friday he was relatively easy fodder for the crafty Paire, who broke twice in each set and routinely kept Djokovic off balance with impressive power and finesse. From 3-3 in the opener Paire broke in the seventh and ninth game to ease to a set lead.

In the second set Djokovic recovered a break and found himself on serve at 4-all before dropping the final two games.

Djokovic finished with 14 winners against 19 unforced errors and won just 31 of 55 points on serve. Paire hit 25 winners against 18 unforced.


“I love this sport,” Djokovic told reporters. “There's a lot of people that support me, especially here. I thank them for their great support. Unfortunately I'm not at the level they would like to see me at and I would like to see myself at. But it is what it is. Life goes on.”

Djokovic is tentatively planning to continue his comeback at the Monte-Carlo Masters, which begin in three weeks.

As for Paire, he has now reached the third round at Miami for the third consecutive year. He will bid for a spot in the round of 16 against Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic on Sunday.

 

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