Greek tragedy for Djokovic

Rafael Bandayrel
3 Min Read
Stefanos Tsitsipas, of Greece, celebrates on his way to defeating Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, at the Rogers Cup men's tennis tournament in Toronto, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2018. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

TORONTO, Canada (AFP) – Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated his second seed in as many days at the Toronto Masters on Thursday, stunning Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals.

The Greek teenager, who turns 20 on Sunday, followed up his defeat of seventh seed Dominic Thiem, beating four-time champion Djokovic, seeded ninth, in a first-time meeting.

Stefanos Tsitsipas, of Greece, celebrates on his way to defeating Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, at the Rogers Cup men's tennis tournament in Toronto, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2018. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Stefanos Tsitsipas, of Greece, celebrates on his way to defeating Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, at the Rogers Cup men’s tennis tournament in Toronto, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2018. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

“This was the best match of my career,” Tsitsipas said. “I knew I was playing pretty good today.”

Tsitsipas, ranked 27, spent just over two hours in advancing to the first Masters 1000 quarter-final of his career.

The 19-year-old forced the former world number one Djokovic onto the back foot in the first set but was unable to wrap up a straight-sets win as the 13-time Grand Slam champion claimed the tiebreak with the Greek firing long having saved two set points.

In the third set, the teenager showed great composure to break for a 2-0 lead and then saved a break point for a 3-0 margin.

He rounded off his afternoon with back-to-back winners to send Djokovic, the winner of 30 Masters titles, out on a first match point.

He played very well and deserved to win without a doubt,’’ Djokovic said. ‘’I just played not that great.

Upset scenarios were not in the plan of holder Alexander Zverev, who rolled over Russian Daniil Medvedev, 6-3, 6-2, in just 52 minutes while never facing a break point.

Bulgarian fifth seed Grigor Dimitrov required almost two and a half hours to subdue Frances Tiafoe of the United States 7-6 (7/1), 3-6, 7-6 (7/4).

He next faces Wimbledon runner-up and fourth seed Kevin Anderson who defeated Ilya Ivashka of Belarus 7-5, 6-3 to also make the last-eight.

Sixth seed Marin Cilic continued his quiet progress, beating Argentine 11th seed Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-2.

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