Novak reassesses future after shocking defeat

MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic said he would have to reassess the way forward for his injured elbow after it flared up again during his shock defeat by Chung Hyeon at the Australian Open yesterday.

he 30-year-old Serb wore a compression sleeve on his playing arm throughout the tournament, his first for six months, but after three relatively straightforward wins it was clear all was not well as he lost 7-6(4) 7-5 7-6(3) to Chung.

He was shaking his arm during the first set and grimaced at times when serving using a re-modelled action.

“It's not great. Unfortunately, it's not great,” the 12-times grand slam champion told reporters. “Kind of end of the first set it started hurting more.

“So, yeah, I had to deal with it till the end of the match.”

Djokovic needed treatment at the end of the first set, but said the pain had been manageable.

“I felt the level of pain was not that high that I need to stop the match, even though it was obviously compromising my serve,” he said.

“That is a big shot, especially against Chung, who returns well, gets a lot of balls back.”

Asked whether he would need another layoff, Djokovic said he would sit down with his coaching team. “I really don't know. “I have to reassess every- thing with my team, medical team, coaches and everybody, scan it, see what the situation is like. Last couple weeks I played a lot of tennis. Let's see what's happening inside,” he said.

Djokovic did not want his condition to detract from the brilliance of Chung who produced a display reminiscent of the Serb at his best.

“Amazing. Amazing performance,” he said. “He was a better player on the court tonight. He deserved to win.”

Roger Federer was a strictly nocturnal beast throughout the first week of the Australian Open, but proved just as effective with the sun on his back as he sauntered into the quarter-finals for the 14th time yesterday.

The defending champion did not require his dazzling best against 80th-ranked Hungarian Marton Fucsovics in his first match scheduled during the day session, but still emerged a comfortable 6-4 7-6(3) 6-2 winner.

World number one Simona Halep shook off a sleepless night racked with ankle pain to sweep past rising Japanese star Naomi Osaka and into the Australian Open quarter-finals with a 6-3 6-2 victory.

The scoreline did not reflect the whole story, however, as the Romanian was given a real fight early on by a 20-year-old tipped to become the next big thing in women's tennis. – Reuters