Upstarts knock off Djokovic and Thiem
Chung beats six-time champ in straight sets
MELBOURNE, Australia — Sixtime champion Novak Djokovic was stunned in straight sets by Hyeon Chung not long after Tennys Sandgren upset No. 5 Dominic Thiem at the Australian Open.
The season-opening major often throws up unexpected results, but the back-to-back upsets Monday resulted in a long shot of a quarter-final: Chung, the first Korean to reach the last eight at a Grand Slam, vs. 97th-ranked Sandgren, who had never won a match at a major or defeated a top-10 player until last week.
Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Yifan Xu of China advanced to the fourth round in women’s doubles, beating Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Zhaoxuan Yang of China 7(8)-6, 6-1.
The 58th-ranked Chung relentlessly attacked Djokovic — who is playing his first tournament since Wimbledon following a right elbow injury — in the 7-6 (4), 7-5, 7-6 (3) fourth-round win.
Chung credited the usually athletic Djokovic, who needed a medical timeout in the second set for a massage on his sore elbow, for the inspiration.
“When I’m young, I’m just trying to copy Novak because he’s my idol,” Chung said. “I can’t believe this tonight. Dreams come true tonight.”
Djokovic, who winced and grimaced throughout the match, particularly when stretching for backhands, said he’d need to reassess the treatment for his elbow. But he said he didn’t want his injuries to detract from Chung’s win.
“Amazing. Amazing performance,” Djokovic said. “Impressive. Whenever he was in trouble, he came up with some unbelievable shots. Just from the back of the court, you know, he was like a wall.”
The 26-year-old Sandgren, who entered the season’s opening major ranked 97th, missed a match point in the fourth set but held on for a 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (7), 6-3 win over Thiem. It followed up his earlier victory over 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka.
“I don’t know if this is a dream or not — all you guys are here, so maybe it’s not,” he said in an on-court TV interview after his three-hour, 54-minute fourth-round win. “I’m not in my underwear, so maybe it’s not a dream.”
Sandgren, who was named after his great-grandfather and who comes from Tennessee, is only the second man in 20 years to reach the quarters in his debut at Melbourne Park.
Defending champion Roger Federer had no real difficulties in reaching the Australian Open quarter-finals for the 14th time, defeating Marton Fucsovics 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-2.
Angelique Kerber, the only Grand Slam singles winner remaining in the women’s draw, got a serious wake-up call.
For a while it appeared Kerber’s progression could unravel against No. 88 Hsieh Su-wei, a former topranked doubles player with a double-handed grip on both sides, until she regained momentum for a 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 win.
In other fourth round results, No. 19 Tomas Berdych beat No. 25 Fabio Fognini, No. 1 Simona Halep beat Naomi Osaka, No. 6 Karolina Pliskova beat No. 20 Barbora Strycova and No. 17 Madison Keys beat No. 8 Caroline Garcia.