Six-time Australian Open champ Novak Djokovic loses in the second round.
117th-ranked Istomin shows Djokovic the door in 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 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 setback 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, 30, a wildcard 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, seeded second, 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,” said Istomin, who will play No. 30 Pablo Carreno Busta in the third round. “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.
Williams will play fellow American Nicole Gibbs in the third round.
Djokovic was the only seeded men’s player to lose on a long day capped by ninth-seeded Rafael Nadal’s 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 win over 2006 finalist Marcos Baghdatis.
Nadal advances
Nadal will play No. 24 Alexander Zverev next. Others advancing included No. 3 Milos Raonic, No. 6 Gael Monfils, No. 8 Dominic Thiem, No. 11 David Goffin, No. 13 Roberto Bautista Agut, No. 15 Grigor Dimitrov and No. 18 Richard Gasquet.
No. 20 Ivo Karlovic followed up his tournamentrecord, 84-game first-round win with a straight-sets victory over wild-card entry Andrew Whittington.
Djokovic held all four majors simultaneously after winning his first French Open last year. Now the French is the only one he can defend in 2017.
“I’m not used to losing Australian Open second round,” Djokovic said. “I’ve done so well here.”
That didn’t matter to Istomin, nor seemingly to the Rod Laver Arena crowd.
The center court wasn’t at capacity as the match extended into the scheduled night session, and Djokovic’s vocal Serbian fans were not a big presence.
Much of the crowd, sensing an upset, was behind Istomin in the fifth set. When the Uzbek made a backhand winner for the decisive break in the fifth game of the last set, he let out a roar and the audience roared, too.
When Djokovic’s last service return floated long, the crowd leapt and cheered.
“First of all, I feel sorry for Novak,” Istomin said, thanking his mother and coach, Klaudiya Istomina, in the crowd. “I was playing so good today. I surprised myself, as well.”
Kerber gains 4th round
On Friday, Angelique Kerber had a straight-sets win for the first time in her first Australian Open title defense, starting her 6-0, 6-4 third-round victory with an eight-game streak against Kristyna Pliskova.
Kerber marked her 29th birthday Wednesday with a second-round win over fellow German Carina Witthoeft, but said she didn’t celebrate much between matches and hoped to do more at the end of the tournament.
She’ll next play 35thranked CoCo Vandeweghe, who reached the fourth round in Australia for the first time with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 win over Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard.
“It will be tough,” Kerber said. “I’m ready. I’m feeling good. I’m loving to play on this court.”
Eighth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova was broken in the second and third sets when serving for the match before finally beating former No. 1-ranked Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 5-7, 9-7 in a three-hour, 36-minute match.