{"id":2655,"date":"2026-08-18T12:31:51","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T12:31:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=2655"},"modified":"2026-08-18T12:31:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T12:31:51","slug":"novak-djokovic-told-what-is-more-worrying-than-his-cincinnati-loss-ahead-of-us-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=2655","title":{"rendered":"Novak Djokovic told what is \u2018more worrying\u2019 than his Cincinnati loss ahead of US Open"},"content":{"rendered":"

Novak Djokovic<\/a>\u2019s defeat at the Cincinnati Open raised \u201ca pretty bad sign\u201d for the tennis icon ahead of the 2026 US Open, according to a former WTA Tour player.<\/p>\n

World No 5 Djokovic fell to a 6-2, 4-6, 4-6 loss to 50th-ranked Tirante in the second round at the Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The 39-year-old Serbian was playing his first match since his straight-set defeat to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon semi-finals.<\/p>\n

While Djokovic dominated the opening set against the 25-year-old Argentine, he suffered physically for large spells of a match played in brutal afternoon heat and humidity in Cincinnati.<\/p>\n

Camille Pin, a retired French player turned commentator, shared her thoughts on Djokovic\u2019s Cincinnati\u00a0struggles while speaking on Eurosport France.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s rather odd is that it didn\u2019t happen in a third set after 2 hours and 40 minutes of play,\u201d said Pin, who played between 1999 and 2010.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFrom the very beginning of the match, Novak was struggling to breathe, and that\u2019s a pretty bad sign.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that\u2019s what\u2019s worrying, more so than the loss to Tirante, who just reached the round of 16 in Montreal by beating [Taylor] Fritz.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy did he feel so much discomfort in the humidity, when he\u2019s won this tournament three times?<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, he\u2019s not the same age, but he\u2019s still incredibly fit. He\u2019ll have to check with his team before the US Open.\u201d<\/p>\n

After his defeat to Tirante, Djokovic divulged that he has been dealing with a health problem that causes \u201ca lot of issues\u201d when he plays in difficult weather conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a condition that I have, health-wise, that has been bothering me for the past couple of years. A lot of issues, especially when it is humid and it is hot,\u201d the 24-time Grand Slam champion explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did anticipate it, but there are all these things, like nerves and everything involved that make it worse, and that\u2019s what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Djokovic\u2019s next appearance will be at the US Open<\/a> mixed doubles event, where he will partner Aryna Sabalenka.<\/p>\n

The former world No 1 will then aim to win a record-extending 25th men\u2019s Grand Slam singles title \u2014 and his first since the 2023 US Open.<\/p>\n

READ NEXT: Brad Gilbert urges tennis to make several rule changes following Novak Djokovic\u2019s match in Cincinnati<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Novak Djokovic told what is \u2018more worrying\u2019 than his Cincinnati loss ahead of US Open<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Novak Djokovic\u2019s defeat at the Cincinnati Open raised \u201ca pretty bad sign\u201d for the tennis icon ahead of the 2026 US Open, according to a former WTA Tour player. World No 5 Djokovic fell to a 6-2, 4-6, 4-6 loss to 50th-ranked Tirante in the second round at the Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2655\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}