By Chris Oddo/ Tuesday, January 14, 2014

 

After falling to Kei Nishikori in Melbourne yesterday, Marinko Matosevic increased his stranglehold on an imfamous Grand Slam record.

Photo Source: Ausopen.com

Marinko Matosevic failed to notch an undesirable milestone on Day 2 at the Australian Open, and while it's nothing to be ashamed of, it is something to be ticked off about.

And yes, Matosevic was ticked off.

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The 28-year-old lost his 12th consecutive Grand Slam match against Kei Nishikori, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, solidifying his status as the holder of the longest streak of Grand Slam ineptitude in tennis. According the ITF Media, Nicolas Mahut, Fredirico Gil, Rajeev Ram and Ramiro Gonzalo Benavides Saravia all needed ten Grand Slam matches before finally breaking through with a victory.

For Matosevic, hopefully, thirteen will be the trick.

As for today, the World No. 56 gave all the credit to his opponent for coming up with the goods in the deciding set. The streak wasn't in his head, Matosevic told reporters. Nishikori just had too much game.

“No, I didn't think about it out there today,” he said. “I didn't think about it at all. He was just too good in the fifth set.”

Matosevic had praise for Japan's No. 1 player, but he also had some criticism. After Nishikori brought his water bottle from his chair to the back of the court to drink from periodically, Matosevic became incensed. “That was bullshit,” Matosevic said. “When have you seen that, a guy's taking his bottle to the back of the court. He can do it; I'll take a drink.”

And drink he did, walking to his chair during a game just to test the umpire, who had already docked Matosevic a game-losing point penalty for a second code violation in the third set.

Nishikori's water usage on the brutally hot day in which temperatures soared to 107 and were reportedly as high as the 140's on some courts, wasn't the only thing that miffed Matosevic. He also criticized his coach for not giving him more verbal support, and he even tried to get the umpires to get spectators in the crowd to stop calling him “Mad Dog,” a nickname that Matosevic claims is not his.

“Some idiot put it on Wikipedia,” Matosevic said.

All of these head games and mini-tantrums sabotaged Matosevic's best interest during this match with Nishikori. He's a talented player who keeps getting better with age. His day is going to come. But on this day there would only be more frustration.

In the press room, Matosevic aired out some of that frustration, letting words fly freely, as if they needed to be released. When asked if he felt if he was getting closer to an elusive Grand Slam victory, he replied: “I don't give a shit, man. What do you want me to say to that?”