Bautista Agut stuns Djokovic as Ashleigh topples Petra

MIAMI: Novak Djokovic’s pursuit of a record seventh Miami Open ATP title ended in dramatic fashion on Tuesday as Roberto Bautista Agut recovered superbly from a first set destruction to win 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 and book a place in the quarter-finals.

And the top seeds kept falling as women’s World No 2 Petra Kvitova slumped to a surprise 7-6 (86), 3-6, 6-2 defeat to Australian Ashleigh Barty.

Bautista Agut, 30, may have beaten Djokovic on the way to winning the title in Doha earlier this year, but 15-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic started like a train in this last 16 encounter before being amazingly reined back in.

After just 25 minutes, Djokovic was 5-0 ahead and on cruise control, with Bautista Agut severely struggling to keep the Serbian at bay.

A short rain delay late in the second set allowed Bautista Agut to regroup, however.

He returned a completely different player and at the end of an absorbing two hours and 29 minutes, it was the No 22 seed who will now meet defending champion John Isner for a place in the semi-finals.

“I played more aggressive,” said Bautista Agut who began to noticeably step inside and force Djokovic onto the back foot. “I tried to miss less balls, to really concentrate on the beginning of the point with my serve, with my return.”

The reigning Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open champion left court and headed straight to a press conference to try and explain this most remarkable of turnarounds at Hard Rock Stadium.

“Bautista Agut is a solid player but I shouldn’t have lost this match, I had way too many wasted opportunities,” said the World No 1, who also failed to make the latter stages of Indian Wells earlier this month.

Djokovic also hinted his vociferous involvement in ATP tennis politics which saw President Chris Kermode ousted this month may have affected his focus.

Big-serving Isner moved into the last eight with a 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7/3) triumph over Great Britain’s World No 22 Kyle Edmund.

In the women’s draw, Ashleigh, who beat Petra for the first time having gone into the clash 0-4, will play Anett Kontaveit for a place in Saturday’s final, after the Estonian brought an end to Hsieh Su-Wei’s impressive run with a 36, 6-2, 7-5 victory to reach the last four in South Florida for the first time.