Novak Djokovic dumped out by Dominic Thiem
Thiem comes from behind to emerge winner
Monte Carlo, April 19: Novak Djokovic was knocked out of the Monte Carlo Masters by an inspired Dominic Thiem in the third round on Thursday, with the Austrian fifth seed progressing to a possible quarter- final with Rafael Nadal.
Thiem, a two- time French Open semifinalist, was the better player for much of the match and won 6- 7 ( 2/ 7), 6- 2, 6- 3 despite a battling effort from Djokovic.
The 12- time Grand Slam champion has still not reached a quarter- final since Wimbledon last July after struggling with an elbow injury.
Djokovic faced a set point on his own serve when trailing 5- 2, but saved it with a volley to force world no. 7 Thiem to serve for the opener.
Thiem brought up two more set points, only for his forehand to break down with two errors, before a double fault gave Djokovic the chance to break back. The ninth seed grabbed that opportunity as Thiem miscued again, celebrating exuberantly in front of a delighted crowd as the set went to a tie- break. Thiem continued to throw in a series of poor shots, double faulting on Djokovic's first set point as the 30- year- old took the breaker 7- 2.
The first few games of the second set went with serve, but Thiem broke for a 3- 2 lead on his third break point of the game when Djokovic scooped a wayward backhand off target.
Djokovic, now ranked 13, missed a chance to level immediately and Thiem then continued his momentum to break the faltering Serbian again.
Meanwhile, third seed Alexander Zverev came through a three- set tussle with fellow German JanLennard Struff to set up a potential first ATP Tour meeting with his older brother Mischa.
The 20- year- old came through 6- 4, 4- 6, 6- 4 and will play either Mischa or Richard Gasquet.
Belgian sixth seed David Goffin held off a late fightback from Roberto Bautista Agut to reach the last eight with a 6- 4, 7- 5 win, in a match that saw the Spaniard accidentally hit a ball boy with the ball.
Goffin will play fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov after the Bulgarian beat Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber 4- 6, 6- 3, 6- 4.
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