TORONTO, August 10, 2018
Reigning Wimbledon champion and four-time winner at Rogers Cup presented by National Bank, Novak Djokovic fell in the third round Thursday to up-and-coming Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas in a three-set tussle. The No. 9 seed from Serbia lost 3-6, 7-6(5), 3-6 in two hours and 17 minutes.
First ever win over Djokovic.
First time into a Masters 1000 quarter-final.@StefTsitsipas scores massive win over Djokovic 6-3 6-7(5) 6-3.#RogersCup pic.twitter.com/V73JsabbVg— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) 9. August 2018
It’s Djokovic’s first loss in Toronto since 2014. “I really want to do well,” he said. “Losing in this kind of tournament, it’s not something I don’t care about. It really frustrates me. But I have to accept it, deal with it, and move on.”
Tsitsipas, just 19, moves into his first ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal. It’s there that he’ll meet No.2 seed and defending champ Alexander Zverev who wasted no time in a straight-forward thumping of Daniil Medvedev on Thursday afternoon. The 19-year-old won 6-3, 6-2 in 52 minutes. Zverev hasn’t dropped a set in his first two matches, and last week beat Tsitsipas in the semi-finals in Washington, D.C.
Canada’s great hope Denis Shapovalov couldn’t conjure the magic he found a year ago in Montreal. He lost on Thursday evening to Robin Haase, the world No.39, in two sets. Shapovalov played far from his best tennis and told reporters, “Obviously I wasn’t having a good day.”
Further results:
- Seeds Marin Cilic and Kevin Anderson moved through without much bother.
- Anderson will play Grigor Dimitrov, who for the second straight round needed a third-set tiebreak to come through. He beat US-American youngster Frances Tiafoe 7-6(1), 3-6, 7-6(4) on Centre Court.
- Cilic, meanwhile, will face World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, who defeated Stan Wawrinka in a tight two-set match 7-5, 7-6(5) late Thursday night.
- Haase’s quarterfinal foe will be Karen Khachanov, a 22-year-old Russian who won two tiebreak sets of his own over the big-serving John Isner, seeded No.8.
- In doubles, the top seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic were given a walkover into the quarterfinals, while Anderson and Djokovic teamed up to beat the defending champ and No.3 seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut.
