DOHA, January 5, 2019
Roberto Bautista Agut caused the upset of the week at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open by knocking out World No. 1 Novak Djokovic on Friday evening. The 30-year-old from Spain broke his opponent twice and won two points more than the Serbian to secure a 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-4 victory in two hours and 35 minutes.
Robertooo 😲@BautistaAgut shocks No.1 Djokovic 3-6 7-6(6) 6-4 to advance to the Doha final!#QatarTennis pic.twitter.com/TQdmOfW3eQ
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) 4. Januar 2019
“I will remember this match all my life. It was an unbelievable atmosphere,” Bautista Agut said during his on-court interview. “I work every day to play this tennis. I know it’s difficult to play at this level. That’s why Novak is No. 1 in the world. But I cannot be more happy than I am now.”
The World No. 24 advanced to his first final in Doha in his only second appearance at the Khalifa Tennis and Squash Complex.
“I wanted to give everything I had in the match and fight until the last point,” Bautista Agut said. “Finally I could turn the second set. Novak was up and it was really tough. He was very solid and I had to play very good tennis. I had to play a lot of lines and serve very well. I did everything well today.”
Later in the evening, Tomas Berdych from the Czech Republic beat fourth seeded Italian Marco Cecchinato 7-6(6), 6-3. The 33-year-old sent down 12 aces, winning 76 per cent of his first service points to prevail after one hour and 29 minutes.
