US OPEN SCENE: You can’t win if you can’t finish

Ivan Dodig, of Croatia, is treated by a trainer during an injury timeout during the second round of the 2014 U.S. Open tennis tournament against Feliciano Lopez, of Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2014, in New York. Dodig forfeited the match to Lopez in the fifth set. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

By Associated Press August 27, 2014 2 min read

NEW YORK (AP) – As Croatia’s Ivan Dodig knows all too well after his 2014 Grand Slam season, you can’t win if you can’t finish.

At the Australian Open in January, he stopped playing in the fourth set of his second-round match, citing cramps.

At the French Open in May – shortly after he said he injured his ribs at a tournament in Rome – Dodig lasted all of four games before quitting in the first round.

And at the U.S. Open on Wednesday, at 1-all in the fifth set against 19th-seeded Feliciano Lopez, the 53rd-ranked Dodig stopped yet again, again officially citing cramps.

“Suddenly, in one moment, I was running for one ball and I (felt) a bit tight on the right hip. And after a couple of games, I started feeling like more cramps in the right leg,” Dodig said.