Page 18 - ARUBA TODAY

A18
Wednesday 17 april 2019

Djokovic

labors into CLIPPERS

Monte

Carlo 3rd COMEBACK

round with

scrappy win

By JEROME PUGMIRE
AP Sports Writer
MONACO (AP) — Two-time
champion Novak Djokovic
struggled with his serve at
times but reached the third
round of the Monte Carlo
Masters with a scrappy 6-3,
4-6, 6-4 win over Philipp
Kohlschreiber on Tuesday.
Djokovic double-faulted
eight times and needed
five match points to beat
Kohlschreiber, who lost
eight of their previous 10
matches but secured a
rare win in the third round
at Indian Wells last month.
He caused problems
again for the top-ranked
Djokovic in an error-strewn
match which featured
eight straight breaks of
serve from when Kohlsch-
reiber led 2-1 in the second
set. Midway through that,
Djokovic needed treat-
ment for a couple of min-
utes on his right thumb. He
appeared to hurt it while
sliding at the baseline dur-
ing the fifth game.
“I lost my serve four games
in a row in the second set,
and that hasn’t happened
too many times in my life,”
Djokovic said. “I’m not a
big server, but still, that’s
quite a lot. It just didn’t feel
so comfortable serving to-
day. Let’s put it that way.” Warriors squander 31-point lead,
After Kohlschreiber
dropped serve at the start
of the deciding set — the Clippers tie series at 1-1
eighth straight service
break — Djokovic saved
break points before hold-
ing for 2-0. The 15-time Los Angeles Clippers guard Lou Williams, left, shoots against
Grand Slam champion, Golden State Warriors center Kevon Looney (5) during the
who will aim to win a fourth first half of Game 2 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff
straight major when the
French Open starts next series in Oakland, Calif., Monday, April 15, 2019.
month, then upped his Associated Press
level. Page 20
Continued on Page 21