Six-time champ Djokovic bounced in second round of Australian Open
It’s early yet, but we’re not likely to see many upsets in 2017 more stunning than what just happened at the Australian Open: six-time champion Novak Djokovic has fallen in a marathon second-round match to the world’s 117th-ranked player.
Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan won 7-6 (10-8) 5-7 2-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4, a four-hour and 48-minute match that left both men exhausted. This marks the first time Djokovic, the defending champion, has lost in the second round of a Grand Slam event since 2008 at Wimbledon. It’s also only the second time in the last seven years Djokovic has lost to a player ranked outside the top 100; the Djoker also lost to 145th-ranked Juan Martin del Potro at the 2016 Olympics.
“He deserved to win. No doubt, he was a better player in the clutch moments,” Djokovic said after the match. “Many things came together for him today and he’s a well-deserved winner. There’s not much I could do.”
How did this happen? Isomin played the match of his life, and managed to win by holding serve up 5-4 in the final set. Isomin, 30, is on the far end of his career, but if he never wins another point, he’ll go out a success.
For American perspective, this is like Alabama football losing to a Division III school … or, given the numerical draw, literally the equivalent of the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament falling to a 16-seed.
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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION, on sale now at Amazon or wherever books are sold. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.
