Djokovic battles injury to enter quarters, Thiem out
MELBOURNE: Eight-time winner Novak Djokovic fought through what he had described as a tournament-ending injury to beat Milos Raonic and reach the Australian Open quarter-finals on Sunday.
Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams survived scares to go through but US Open champion Dominic Thiem, also not at his “100 per cent”, was a major casualty as he fell to Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-4, 6-0. Simona Halep avenged her crushing French Open defeat by Polish teenager Iga Swiatek to set up a meeting with Williams, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei reached her first Slam quarterfinal at the age of 35.
Djokovic, the world No. 1, had raised the alarm over an abdominal injury after his fiveset battle with Taylor Fritz, but he showed few outward signs in his 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 win on Sunday. But the 17-time Slam winner said he had spent “every single hour” since Friday’s win trying to recover, and wasn’t sure he would play until he warmed up before the match.
“If it was any other tournament than a Grand Slam I would retire from the tournament, that’s for sure,” said Djokovic, who becomes just the second player after Roger Federer to win 300 Slam matches.
Djokovic will next meet German sixth seed Alexander Zverev, who beat Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-3.
TV Timing: Live on Sony Six, Ten2&3, 5.30am & 1.30pm
On Sunday, Manchester United’s faltering title challenge suffered another blow in a 1-1 draw at West Brom as Wolves earned a 2-1 victory against Southampton.
TV Timing: West Ham v Sheffield United,
Chelsea v Newcastle,
(Tue); both Live on Star Sports Select 1 & HD 1