Djokovic dumped out of Cincinnati Masters at first hurdle by Argentina's Tirante

[p]The South American advanced to the third round with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/djokovic-n-AZg49Et9/tirante-t-a-jBkGDj34/?mid=h4BvGELE"]a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 win[/a] against the 24-time Grand Slam champion, who hit the wall in the second set but recovered to make a battle of it in the third before bowing out.[/p][p]The Serb star won a brutal 18-minute third game of the second set after taking the first, saving four break points over nine deuces.[/p][p]But he was clearly struggling, doubling over or even dropping to his hands and knees between some points.[/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="6655d826-e4d3-4180-b307-9014c4a8c95a" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="6f8dfffc-a632-4262-a8c6-3b68a4b94174" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/djokovic-novak/AZg49Et9/"]Djokovic[/a] took a medical timeout after that game, with the physio and then a doctor coming on court to assist with assessments and ice towels.[/p][p]After [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tirante-thiago-agustin/jBkGDj34/"]Tirante[/a] took the second set, both players cooled off in the locker room.[/p][p]Slightly revived, Djokovic soldiered on in the deciding set, where a drop shot gone wrong on his opponent's match point spelt the end for the veteran - who must try to regroup before the start of the US Open on August 30th.[/p][embed guid="74983aac-b486-4b77-917e-90a1f207aa99" url="https://x.com/atptour/status/2088736345753571511" social-type="twitter" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/tennis/atp-singles/cincinnati/"]Follow the men's side in Cincinnati here.[/a][/b][/p]