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Djokovic credits Dimitrov after Madrid defeat


 

Originally published on: 08/05/13 00:00

Following his surprise 7-6(6) 6-7(8) 6-3 second-round defeat to Grigor Dimitrov, the world No.1 revealed he had not had much time on court since his victory at the Monte Carlo Masters a fortnight ago.

"I didn't prepare myself so well, but, look I'm not trying to find any excuses for the loss,” Djokovic said. “I tried to do my best in this moment, and maybe my best is not like it was in Monte Carlo.

"All the credit also to Dimitrov, because he was the better player on the court. He was striking the ball really well, serving great, changing the pace, and, yeah, he deserved to win, as I said.

"For 12 days after Monte Carlo I haven't touched the racquet. I didn't know up to Saturday if I'm going to come here or not because of the ankle."

World No.28 Dimitrov was delighted to claim the biggest victory of his career after consecutive defeats to Djokovic, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal in recent weeks.

"It was a great experience for me,” Dimitrov said. “Obviously I played him a couple of times before, so I kind of wanted to do something else and try some new stuff on court, and that was it.

"Of course he's the No. 1 and of course it's a great feeling, but it's just the beginning of the tournament. It was just second round if you think about it, so you've just got to get ready for the next matches and make sure that you can do that again.

“I felt I had enough hours of practice in the weeks before. I felt that I could actually hang with Novak the whole match. That's the whole purpose of getting ready for big events and eventually for big matches."

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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.