Underdog Chung shocks Djokovic
MELBOURNE, Australia – Even by Australian Open standards, back-to-back shockers have resulted in a most unexpected quarterfinal.
The season-opening Grand Slam has a tendency to be unpredictable, but losing six-time champion Novak Djokovic and fifthranked Dominic Thiem within a few hours Monday leaves Hyeon Chung and Tennys Sandgren playing for a spot in the semifinals.
The 58th-ranked Chung relentlessly attacked a clearly injured Djokovic in a 7-6 (4), 7-5, 7-6 (3) fourth-round victory, becoming the first South Korean to reach the last eight at a Grand Slam.
Then there’s Tennys. The 26year-old from Tennessee had never won a Grand Slam match or beaten a top-10 player until last week. The 97th-ranked Sandgren beat Thiem 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (7), 6-3, following up on his earlier victory over 2014 Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka.
The bespectacled Chung ripped 47 winners, including a forehand on the slide and at full stretch that put him within two points of victory, and credited Djokovic as his 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 was playing his first competitive tennis since Wimbledon last July and had to remodel his service swing to take some load off his injured right elbow.
He winced and grimaced throughout the match, particularly when stretching for backhands, and needed a medical timeout in the second set for massage on his injured elbow.
The 12-time major champion said he would need to reassess the injury but didn’t want his pain to detract from Chung’s win.
“Amazing. Amazing performance,” said Djokovic, who was seeded 14th after his ranking slid in 2017 while he was off the tour. “Whenever he was in trouble, he came up with some unbelievable shots.”
Chung was coming off a win over fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev, and is on a roll.
Djokovic wasn’t even sure until the last minute that he would be able to play at Melbourne Park but was fit enough to beat Donald Young, Gael Monfils and No. 21 Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Chung was a different proposition.