Djokovic shocked by world No117 at Aussie Open as Serena cruises
NOVAK Djokovic suffered arguably the biggest defeat of his career when he crashed out of the Australian Open to 117th-ranked Uzbek Denis Istomin yesterday, extending his mystifying slump in form.
With Istomin inspired, the defending champion sent down 72 unforced errors as he lost 7-6 (10/8), 5-7, 2-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 in the second round to end his bid for a record seventh title at Melbourne Park.
In the women’s draw, Serena Williams dispatched Lucie Safarova 6-3, 6-4, but third seed Agnieszka Radwanska was a major casualty when she lost 6-3, 6-2 to Croatian veteran Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.
It is more than a decade since Djokovic made such an early exit from the Australian Open, and he hasn’t lost in the second round of any Grand Slam since Wimbledon in 2008.
Djokovic had only been defeated once by a player outside the top 100 in the past seven years, when he went down to 145-ranked Juan Martin del Potro at the Rio Olympics.
The stunning result blows the men’s competition wide open as the six-time champion was widely expected to reach the January 29 final, where he was seeded to meet fivetime runner-up Andy Murray.
‘Sorry for Novak’
It also raises fresh questions for the world No2, who has been in a funk since completing a career Grand Slam and winning his 12th major title at last year’s French Open.
“It’s one of these days when you don’t feel that great on the court, don’t have much rhythm, and the player you’re playing against is feeling the ball very well,” he shrugged. “That’s sport.”
While Djokovic was rocked by the defeat, there was joy for Istomin, who is coached by his mother and has never got beyond the third round in 11 visits to Melbourne Park.
“I feel sorry for Novak. I was playing so good today,” he said. “I surprised myself also.”
One beneficiary of Istomin’s win could be world No3 Milos Raonic, who was seeded to meet Djokovic in the semifinals.
Despite suffering from flu, the Canadian strode into the third round with 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) demolition of Gilles Muller and will next play France’s Gilles Simon.
Croatia’s Ivo Karlov ic made a miraculous recover y from his record-brea k ing, 84-game win over Horacio Zeballos t wo days earlier to beat Austra lian wildcard Andrew Whittington.
The 6ft 11ins (2.11m) Karlovic, who fired 75 aces as he beat Zeballos 22-20 in the fifth set on Tuesday, won 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to set up an encounter with Belgium’s David Goffin.
Grigor Dimitrov, a winner this month in Sydney, beat South Korea’s Chung Hye-on in four sets to go into a testing clash with Frenchman Richard Gasquet.
Radwanska was the strong favourite against Lucic-Baroni, 34, but her famous shot-making deserted the Pole as she succumbed to her earliest exit since 2009.
Britain’s Johanna Konta kept up her hot run of form as she beat Japan’s Naomi Osaka 6-4, 6-2 to set up a meeting with former world No1 Caroline Wozniacki.
US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova ousted Russian qualifier Anna Blinkova to stay unbeaten this year, and WTA Finals winner Dominika Cibulkova saw off Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei.
Second-seeded Williams, seeking a record 23rd major title, will face fellow American Nicole Gibbs in the third round after her high-level victory over Safarova.
Greats slam Kyrgios
Meanwhile, tennis greats slammed the behaviour of Australia’s badboy Nick Kyrgios after yet another inexplicable meltdown triggered a spectacular early exit from the Australian Open.
The combustible 21-year-old was booed off court and accused of giving up as he crashed out in the second round in a stormy five-set defeat to Italian Andreas Seppi on Wednesday, despite winning the first two sets.
Kyrgios was slapped with $5,500 in fines yesterday for swearing and throwing his racquet after his extraordinary defeat.
Kyrgios, who also pulled out of the men’s doubles competition, citing injury, was fined $3,000 for an audible obscenity and $2,500 for racquet abuse, organisers said.
John McEnroe labelled Kyrgios as “mentally [ranked] about 200 in the world” and giving the sport a “black eye”, while Rod Laver criticised his countryman’s antics.
The latest episode in the tempestuous tennis career of Kyrgios comes as he makes his return from a ban for “lack of best efforts”, commonly known as tanking, during a match in Shanghai. He has since been seeing a psychologist.
After he was penalised for throwing down his racquet in the third set, Kyrgios unravelled and started playing casually and lethargically, unnecessar ily hitting a “tweener” shot between his legs.
The tennis world remained incredulous yesterday over yet another of Kyrgios’s volcanic self-destructions from a winning position, but McEnroe was particularly damning.
“Even I’m at a loss for words. Overall I would call it a damn shame because I think he’s the most talented guy in the world [aged] 21 and under – maybe even at 29 and under,” McEnroe said during television commentary on ESPN.
“He could be the best player in the world, but mentally he’s about 200 in the world, and I think at critical moments it showed.
“When he goes through those periods when he’s not competing, then it’s just a black eye for the sport. And it’s a black eye for him.”