Novak Djokovic was stunned and stunned in a manner rarely seen, by the world number 42 Lorenzo Sonego in the quarter-final of the Vienna Open.
Lorenzo Sonego, who had lost in the qualifying rounds itself and was a part of the tournament owing to the lucky loser rule, dominated the entire match against Djokovic finally culminating in a 6-2,6-1 win for Sonego. The defeat also marks just the second occasion when Novak won just three games in the entire match. The last time Djokovic was so utterly dominated was back in 2005 when Novak was a hitherto unknown Serbian taking on the yesteryear great Marat Safin.
The defeat also increased Djokovic’s wait to confirm that he will end the year as world number 1 for a record sixth time and equal Pete Sampras.
“It’s the best victory of my life,” says Sonego
Lorenzo Sonego was on the cloud nine after the magical game and understandably so. Just a week earlier even the chances of him being a part of the tournament were in jeopardy.
Sonego lost in the final qualifying round to Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia but was added as a lucky loser to the main draw after several players pulled out with injuries. He hasn’t lost a set.
“For sure it’s the best victory of my life. Novak is the best in the world. Today I played so, so good,” Sonego said.
“It’s unbelievable. It’s amazing. I played the best match of my life. I’m so happy for this.” an ecstatic Sonego added.
🇷🇸 Novak #Djokovic has collected only 3 games in the loss against 🇮🇹 Lorenzo #Sonego. Only on 1 occasion the ATP No. 1 collected fewer games: 🇷🇴 Ilie Nastase vs 🇺🇸 Cliff Richey at 1974 Lakeway, 2 games#ErsteBankOpen pic.twitter.com/pelXizZ3JM
— TennisMyLife (@TennisMyLife68) October 31, 2020
Novak Djokovic on the other hand seemed oddly content about the entire episode and is aiming to focus on the coming ATP finals in London. This is just the third loss for Novak Djokovic this year.
Also read: Nadal thinks Djokovic’s coach was “arrogant” with his claims before French Open finals
“I came here with the intention to try to earn more points and secure the No. 1 in the end of the year. I have done that, so I move on,” he said.
“I am happy, I am pleased, I am healthy, and hopefully I can have a strong finish (at the ATP Finals) in London.”
“I have done what I needed to do and why I came here. I am completely fine with today’s result.”
Novak, Thiem and a day of upsets-
In a rollercoaster of a day, second seed Dominic Thiem too was utterly outplayed by 5th seed Andrey Rublev in a 7-6,6-2 win for the latter. Rublev, who is having his breakthrough season is chasing his fifth title of the season and will take on Kevin Anderson in the semi-finals.
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