condolences to Novak

His grandfather who he was very close to passed away before the Dolgo match. He was very close to his grandfather and it probably was on his mind all throughout the match. However a very strong willed performance that shows the kind of talent and courage that has gotten him to where he is at right now. I have a feeling that after the initial shock and despondency, Novak will do what he has always done and continue to battle the adversity. I wouldn't be surprised if it affects his play adversly though in the short run of this tournament, he did look a bit off against the dog.

He almost did not play, based on some Twitter feeds (Harman and Gilbert). He chose to play, which is fantastic. It took the first set to settle his nerves, but he did it.

Yes and came through pretty well in the end.

I am very sorry to hear about Novak's loss. As a believer in the Holy Torah, I will pray for him and his family during their period of mourning.

kemet wrote:I am very sorry to hear about Novak's loss. As a believer in the Holy Torah, I will pray for him and his family during their period of mourning.

May Djokovic find strength in his Tennis and dedicate some of his wins to his grandfather.

Terribly sad for him.

Only saw the third set but really fantastic play from both players - very gutsy from Novak and how exciting is Dolgopolov? May there be many more matches between the two of them.