Novak Djokovic lost the aura of invincibility when he lost early at Wimbledon last summer and struggled in the second half of the year. Yesterday, he lost his Australian Open title in one of the biggest shocks the tournament has ever seen and handed Andy Murray and the rest a huge chance in the first grand slam of the year.
Melbourne has been Djokovic territory ever since he won his first grand slam title here in 2008 and to watch him produce a flat performance and be outplayed by Denis Istomin, the world No 117 from Uzbekistan, was as shocking as it was puzzling.
Istomin, a seasoned campaigner making his way back after injury, has been as high as No. 33 in the past but he played way above that level, staying calm when it looked like he had missed his chance.
But Djokovic was strangely flat throughout, seemingly lacking intensity, and in the end, Istomin was good value for his 7-6, 5-7, 2-6, 7-6, 6-4 victory, putting him into the third round.
It is the earliest grand slam exit for Djokovic, the six-times champion who won the title in five of the past seven years, since Wimbledon 2008, when he lost to Marat Safin and more evidence that all is not right in the Serb’s world.
To his credit, he made no excuses for his defeat, saying he’d been beaten by the better player on the day.
“He deserved to win,” Djokovic said. “No doubt, he was a better player in the clutch moments. He stepped it up, played aggressive. Served very well, very precise. There's not much I could do.
“Of course, I was not pleased with my performance overall. But, you know, I have to congratulate my opponent today.”
This was the first grand slam for Djokovic without Boris Becker in his coaching team after the pair split at the end of 2016.
The former Wimbledon champion, in Melbourne working for Eurosport, was as shocked as anyone at what he witnessed.
“It’s a tough one – I feel for him and I still have so much respect for him,” said Becker, who felt Djokovic was too passive. “This is a new situation for him. The Australian Open was always the foundation of the year and you leave Australia with the title in the bag and the 2000 points and the year plays much easier.
“And now it’s a new situation and I think the team has to stick together and sleep on it because nothing is going to come out of it tonight. They need to find a cure for this current situation.”
Djokovic will slip well behind Murray in the rankings and having won Indian Wells and Miami last year, the Scot has a great chance to build a big lead at the top.
Rafael Nadal stormed into the third round with a dominant 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Marcos Baghdatis, an outstanding performance from the former champion.
The Spaniard will need to be just as good in the next round tomorrow, though, for his next opponent is Germany’s Sascha Zverev, considered the best young player in the world.
Kyle Edmund’s Australian Open run was ended, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 by Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain, a bad nail not helping in the opening set.
“I just didn't play good enough today,” he said. “I just need to learn from it and move on.”
Third seed Milos Raonic says he is struggling with flu but still beat Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 and Ivo Karlovic recovered well after a first-round marathon to beat Australian Andrew Whittington in straight sets.
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