vc
After three years of complete dominance at the Australian Open Novak Djokovic found himself sensationally dumped out of the tournament after another epic against Stanislas Wawrinka.
His reign as champion came to an end with a 2-6 6-4 6-2 3-6 9-7 victory that took exactly four hours and ensured there will be a new finalist on Sunday, either the barrel-chested Swiss or Tomas Berdych.
For Djokovic it represented his first defeat since the US Open, and a poor start for his left-field appointment of Boris Becker as coach. Having won his last nine deciding sets during a 28 match winning streak he finally flinched with two dreadful errors at the net when Wawrinka forced him to 30-30 in the final game.
The defeat only raises the stakes for Wednesday’s quarter final between Andy Murray and Roger Federer.
Djokovic was bidding to become the first man since Roy Emerson to win four straight Australian Open titles, and he had not lost a match since the US Open final in September.
Twelve months ago Djokovic won a fourth-round clash against Wawrinka 12-10 in the fifth set in Melbourne while the outcome was the same when they met in the last four at the US Open.
Wawrinka said: 'Last year it was really tough but this year I came back, it's a new year. I did not start well, I was not feeling great on the court. I tried everything. He's an amazing champion and he never gives up but I'm really, really, really happy.'
Their clash in the fourth round last year was arguably the match of the season, so the Rod Laver Arena was primed for something special when the two men walked out under the lights.
It was something of an anticlimax, then, when Djokovic breezed through the first set.
No comments:
Post a Comment