Wimbledon a few years back had loads of retirements but I've never seen one player get such a free pass through to the semis.
This is getting faintly ridiculous, it might be that I just don't know my tennis history well enough but has anyone in recent memory had quite such an easy ride in terms of retirements/walkovers?
Still I hope that Tsonga recovers quickly and good luck to Murray in his match vs Nishikori later today.
At the "end" of his own 4th round, Djokovic himself said something along the lines of he cant even remember anyone getting a 2nd bye due to injury.
That was even before Tsonga retired last night - so its definitely becoming highly unusual for one player to benefit so much in one Open.
Obviously there are going to be tournements where a lot of the field retire etc but usually doesnt majorly benefit one player.
edit - it wasnt as specific as I thought at the end of his 3rd round match vs Youzhny “It’s difficult to pick the words now. I don’t think I’ve ever had this situation – a second round walkover and 30 minutes only in the third round."
The other interesting thing about the NY Open is how the draw itself has happened - ie look at Djokovic's draw (Tsonga , seeded 9th) in the 1/4rs followed by Monfils (seeded 10th) in the Semi's
Murray has Nishikori (seeded 6th ) in the 1/4rs followed by most likely Wawrinka (seeded 3rd) in the semi. Even if Del Potro wins the other 1/4 , he is only not seeded because of historical wrist injuries, think its fair to say he is really a top 5 player from skill point of view.
Quite a significant difference in the last stages of the draw. Of course the top seed SHOULD get a better draw, but it seems to benefit Djokovic a lot more frequently than Murray's side in recent Open draws
