DT e-Paper, Friday, Decdember 20, 2017

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2017
Sport
Djokovic suffers huge
shock, Serena serene
• AFP, Melbourne
Novak Djokovic suffered arguably
the biggest defeat of his career
when he crashed out of the
Australian Open to 117th-ranked
Uzbek Denis Istomin on Thursday,
extending his mystifying slump in
form.
With Istomin inspired, the defending
champion sent down 72
unforced errors as he lost 7-6 (10/8),
5-7, 2-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 in the second
round to end his bid for a record
seventh title at Melbourne Park.
In the women's draw, Serena
Williams dispatched Lucie Safarova
6-3, 6-4 but third seed Agnieszka
Radwanska was a major casualty
when she lost 6-3, 6-2 to Croatian
veteran Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.
It is more than a decade since
Djokovic made such an early exit
from the Australian Open, and he
hasn't lost in the second round of
any Grand Slam since Wimbledon
in 2008.
Djokovic had only been defeated
once by a player outside the top 100
in the past seven years, when he
went down to 145-ranked Juan Martin
del Potro at the Rio Olympics.
The stunning result blows the
men's competition wide open as
the six-time champion was widely
expected to reach the January 29
final, where he was seeded to meet
five-time runner-up Andy Murray.
It also raises fresh questions for
the world number two, who has
been in a funk since completing a
career Grand Slam and winning his
12th major title at last year's French
Open.
"It's one of these days when you
don't feel that great on the court,
don't have much rhythm, and the
player you're playing against is feeling
the ball very well," he shrugged.
"That's sport."
While Djokovic was rocked by
the defeat, there was joy for Istomin,
who is coached by his mother
and has never got beyond the third
round in 11 visits to Melbourne Park.
"I feel sorry for Novak, I was
playing so good today," he said. "I
surprised myself also."
One beneficiary of Istomin's win
could be world number three Milos
Raonic, who was seeded to meet
Djokovic in the semi-finals.
Despite suffering from 'flu, the
Canadian strode into the third
round with 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) demolition
of Gilles Muller and will next
play France's Gilles Simon.
Croatia's Ivo Karlovic made a
miraculous recovery from his record-breaking,
84-game win over
Horacio Zeballos two days earlier
to beat Australian wildcard Andrew
Whittington.
The 6ft 11ins (2.11m) Karlovic,
who fired 75 aces as he beat Zeballos
22-20 in the fifth set on Tuesday, won
6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to set up an encounter
with Belgium's David Goffin.
ESPN criticised over
Venus 'gorilla' comment
• AFP, Melbourne
US broadcaster ESPN was plunged
into a race row after one of its
commentators compared tennis
player Venus Williams to a "gorilla",
prompting a flood of criticism
online.
Commentator Doug Adler made
the remark during the American's
match against Stefanie Voegele at
the Australian Open on Wednesday,
when she won 6-3, 6-2 to reach
the third round.
"She misses a first serve and
Venus is all over her," said Adler, a
58-year-old former player. "You see
Venus move in and put the gorilla
effect on. Charging."
Viewers were quick to register
their distaste on social media,
while tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg
called it "appalling stuff".
"Horrifying that the Williams
sisters remained subjected to it still
in 2017," he tweeted.
There was no immediate comment
from ESPN.
Venus Williams and her sister
Serena, who have 29 Grand Slam
titles between them, have experienced
negative comment in the
past.
In 2014, Russian Tennis Federation
President Shamil Tarpischev
was forced to apologise after
he taunted them as the "Williams
brothers". •
Grigor Dimitrov, a winner this
month in Sydney, beat South Korea's
Chung Hye-On in four sets to
go into a testing clash with Frenchman
Richard Gasquet.
Radwanska was the strong favourite
against Lucic-Baroni, 34,
but her famous shot-making deserted
the Pole as she succumbed
to her earliest exit since 2009.
Britain's Johanna Konta kept
up her hot run of form as she beat
Japan's Naomi Osaka 6-4, 6-2
to set up a meeting with former
world number one Caroline
Wozniacki.
US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova
ousted Russian qualifier Anna
Blinkova to stay unbeaten this year,
and WTA Finals winner Dominika
Cibulkova saw off Taiwan's Hsieh
Su-Wei.
Second-seeded Williams,
seeking a record 23rd major title,
will face fellow American Nicole
Gibbs in the third round after her
high-level victory over Safarova.
Meanwhile Australia's Nick
Kyrgios, much-criticised for his
lacklustre defeat to Italy's Andreas
Seppi late on Wednesday, was fined
$5,500 for an audible obscenity and
racquet abuse.
The temperamental Aussie, accused
by tennis legend John McEnroe
of giving up during the match,
also pulled out of the men's doubles
competition citing an abdominal
injury. •
Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin hits a return against Serbia's Novak Djokovic during
their men's singles second round match on day four of the Australian Open tennis
tournament in Melbourne yesterday
AFP
Rivals now have more belief,
admits Djokovic
• AFP, Melbourne
Fallen Grand Slam king Novak
Djokovic admitted opponents now
believe he is more vulnerable following
his stunning second-round
exit from the Australian Open.
The six-time winner and 12-time
Grand Slam champion crashed out
to unheralded Denis Istomin in five
sets on Thursday in the world number
two’s earliest exit from a major
since Wimbledon 2008.
Djokovic’s stuttering start to
the new season comes after he
lost the world number one ranking
he had held for 122 weeks from
2014 to Britain’s Andy Murray in
November.
He also relinquished his
Wimbledon and US Open titles and
was eliminated in the first round
of the Rio Olympics by eventual
champion Juan Martin Del Potro of
Argentina.
The 7-6 (10/8), 5-7, 2-6, 7-6 (7/5),
6-4 loss to the 117th-ranked Istomin
will only raise more questions
about Djokovic’s ability to stay at
the top after dominating tennis for
the last six years.
Asked if opponents have started
to believe more over the last six
months that he was beatable, Djokovic
said: “Sure. They wouldn’t be
playing against me or any other opponent
or any other tournament,
for that matter, if they don’t believe
that they can win.
“They go out and they try their
best. Today Denis, surely he was an
underdog, but he didn’t show any
nerves in the big moments.
“Everything came together. It
was the right moment for him, the
right day. He was better.”
Djokovic’s stunning defeat ends
a phenomenal run of success in
Melbourne where he won six Australian
Open titles in six finals.
- ‘What can I do?’ -
“I’m not used to losing in Australian
Open second round,” he
said. “I’ve always played so well.
Throughout the last 10 years, I’ve
won six titles here.
“This court has been so nice
to me. I enjoyed it very much. Of
course, it’s disappointing. But the
end of the day I have to accept it.”
“I don’t know. I didn’t reflect on
that at all. I started a new season, a
new year, as everybody else. I forgot
about it, in a way. It’s not affecting
me,” he said.
Djokovic added: “I started the
season very well. Again, it’s a tennis
match. On a given day, you can
lose. I mean, nothing is impossible.
There are over a hundred players
playing in the main draw.
“I guess the quality of tennis
keeps rising each year. Everybody
becomes more professional. I guess
they improve. They get better on
the court.
“What can I do? I did try my best
till the last shot, but it didn’t work.” •