Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Djokovic knocked out in second round
In his earliest loss at a Grand Slam tournament since 2008, Novak Djokovic fell in five sets to No. 117-ranked Denis Istomin in the second round.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA >> It started badly for Novak Djokovic, who needed 24 serves, six break-point saves and 15 minutes just to hold his first game in the second round.
This was not the closeto-invincible Djokovic that fans were used to seeing at the Australian Open, where he has won a record-equaling six titles, including five in the previous six years.
In his earliest loss at a Grand Slam tournament since 2008, Djokovic lost 7-6 (8), 5-7, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 on Thursday to No. 117-ranked Denis Istomin, a 30-yearold wild-card entry from Uzbekistan.
“All the credit to Denis for playing amazing. He deserves to win,” Djokovic said of their four-hour, 48-minute match. “He was the better player in the clutch moments.
“Obviously, I was not pleased with my performance overall, but I have to congratulate my opponent. Whenever he needed, he came up with a big serve, big play.”
Djokovic hadn’t dropped a set to Istomin in six previous matches. But he lost the 85-minute first set in a tiebreaker and then seemed to get the momentum back, only for Istomin to finish stronger.
Istomin’s only previous win in 33 matches against top-10 players was in 2012 versus then-No. 5 David Ferrer.
“It is the biggest win for me. It means so much,” Istomin said. “Now I feel I can play with these guys, and to be with them on the same level.”
Serena Williams, who like Djokovic was ranked No. 2 and is a six-time Australian Open champion, kept her chase for an Open-era record 23rd major title on track with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Lucie Safarova.
After winning a rematch of the 2015 French Open final against Safarova, Williams will play fellow American Nicole Gibbs in the third round.
Third-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska didn’t last much longer than Djokovic, losing her second-round match to Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-3, 6-2. Radwanska reached the semifinals in Melbourne last year; Lucic-Baroni hadn’t won an Australian Open match since 1998 until her first-round win this week.
No. 28 Alize Cornet and No. 31 Yulia Putintseva were the only other seeded women to lose on Day 4.
Among those advancing were U.S. Open finalist Karolina Pliskova, WTA Finals champion Dominika Cibulkova, 2016 Australian Open semifinalist Johanna Konta, No. 14 Elena Vesnina, No. 16 Barbora Strycova, former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki and No. 22 Daria Gavrilova, representing Australia’s last hope in the women’s draw.