TORONTO — It turns out the early days of the Rogers Cup are no joke to Novak Djokovic.
On Wednesday, he attacked a second-round match with plenty of punch.
The hysteria associated with the Zika virus, on the other hand, well, let’s just say Djokovic isn’t taking it as seriously.
Djokovic, who will represent Serbia in Rio, Brazil, next month, squashed any possibility that he might skip out on his third Olympics, speaking candidly about the topic at a press conference following a straight-sets win over world No. 37 Gilles Muller.
The planet’s best men’s tennis player said he has done his homework on Zika, the mosquito-borne virus causing qualified athletes — such as Canadian tennis star Milos Raonic — to exclude themselves from the Games. Some fear the long-term physical effects of catching the bug.
“I did get more information on it, and my decision is to go to the Olympic Games. Because, from the information that I got, it’s not as it’s presented, not as dangerous,” Djokovic said.
“Of course, there is always a possibility that you can get the virus, but I think maybe the fuss and the buzz about the virus has been created with some kind of other intent that I’m not going to get into. For me, it’s safe enough and I’m going to go.”
On the court, Djokovic batted away a pesky Luxembourg native in Muller en route to a 7-5, 7-6(3) victory. The 29-year-old didn’t walk all over his opponent who brought his serving A-game, recording 11 aces to Djokovic’s three.
“He likes to play quick, and I think that the warm day like today played in his favour,” Djokovic said of the dry, 30 C midday weather, adding Muller tends to be a “very difficult player to play against” when the conditions heat up the hardcourt.
A three-time champion of the event who as top seed received a first-round bye, Djokovic has played in the quarter-final round or further in eight of nine Rogers Cup appearances. He lost in last year’s final in Montreal to rival Andy Murray.
Djokovic said he had pondered not coming to Toronto but ultimately felt like it would be a solid tune-up for Rio. He faces world No. 34 Radek Stepanek in the third round.
Along with Raonic, world No. 8 Tomas Berdych and two prominent women’s players, Simona Halep and Karolina Pliskova, have mentioned Zika as a reason for their withdrawal from the Games.
Another title in Canada would make 30 career ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event victories for the lone member of the sport’s Big Four — Murray, Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal being the others — in attendance.
POLANSKY BOWS OUT
He had a golden opportunity. And laid an egg.
Toronto’s Peter Polansky, 28, lost in straight sets to Stepanek, who on Wednesday was dealing with neck soreness prior to their second-round meeting.
“It’s a shame,” Polansky said after the 7-6 (5), 6-4 defeat. “I felt like I had an opportunity there and couldn’t convert.”
The loss to 129th-ranked Stepanek stings. Polansky committed five double faults and had a 49% first-serve rate in a match following up Monday’s comeback win over Tim Smyczek.
“He was playing a lot of shorter points — drop shots, slices, coming to the net more — basically just trying to throw me off my rhythm,” he said. “I did a pretty good job for the most part, but I just didn’t convert the important points that well,” he said. “I’m a little disappointed in myself about that.”
Polansky, ranked 247th in the world, leaves the York University grounds still without a third-round berth at the Rogers Cup. He’s 4-9 all-time at the annual tournament.