On a Blistering Hot Day, Matosevic Loses Cool and Another Grand Slam Match

By Chris Oddo/ Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Marinko Matosevic failed to notch an
undesirable milestone on Day 2 at the Australian Open, and
while it’s nothing to be ashamed of, it is something to be
ticked off about.

And yes, Matosevic was ticked off.

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The 28-year-old lost his 12th consecutive Grand Slam match
against Kei Nishikori, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, solidifying his
status as the holder of the longest streak of Grand Slam
ineptitude in tennis. According the ITF Media, Nicolas
Mahut, Fredirico Gil, Rajeev
Ram and Ramiro Gonzalo Benavides
Saravia all needed ten Grand Slam matches before
finally breaking through with a victory.

For Matosevic, hopefully, thirteen will be the trick.

As for today, the World No. 56 gave all the credit to his
opponent for coming up with the goods in the deciding set.
The streak wasn’t in his head,
Matosevic told reporters. Nishikori just had too much game.

“No, I didn’t think about it out there today,” he said. “I
didn’t think about it at all. He was just too good in the fifth
set.”

Matosevic had praise for Japan’s No. 1 player, but he also had
some criticism. After Nishikori brought his water bottle from
his chair to the back of the court to drink from periodically,
Matosevic became incensed. “That was bullshit,” Matosevic said.
“When have you seen that, a guy’s taking his bottle to the back
of the court. He can do it; I’ll take a drink.”

And drink he did, walking to his chair during a game just to
test the umpire, who had already docked Matosevic a game-losing
point penalty for a second code violation in the third set.

Nishikori’s water usage on the brutally hot day in which
temperatures soared to 107 and were reportedly as high as the
140’s on some courts, wasn’t the only thing that miffed
Matosevic. He also criticized his coach for not giving him more
verbal support, and he even tried to get the umpires to get
spectators in the crowd to stop calling him “Mad Dog,” a
nickname that Matosevic claims is not his.

“Some idiot put it on Wikipedia,” Matosevic said.

All of these head games and mini-tantrums sabotaged Matosevic’s
best interest during this match with Nishikori. He’s a talented
player who keeps getting better with age. His day is going to
come. But on this day there would only be more frustration.

In the press room, Matosevic aired out some of that
frustration, letting words fly freely, as if they needed to be
released. When asked if he felt if he was getting closer to an
elusive Grand Slam victory, he replied: “I don’t give a shit,
man. What do you want me to say to that?”