The four hours and forty-eight minutes match ended in favor of Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan when he ended sit-time champion Novak Djokovic’s dream of Australian Open 2017. With this, Djokovic is crashed out of Australian Open in five set match 7-6 (8), 5-7, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the second round. It’s his first early exit after Wimbledon 2008, when he was beaten by Marat Safin in the second round.
The match was wonderful to watch as Djokovic was playing to retain his title and Denis was playing to make his mark. Djokovic’s 9 double faults and 72 unforced errors were the reason for his fall against 3 double faults and 61 unforced errors by Denis. No. 117 ranked and wild card entry Denis has never beaten any top 10 players of the world. Denis did make his mark in 2012 when he beat the then world No. 5 David Ferrer in Indian Wells.
Also, this loss Novak Djokovic’s only second loss to a player beyond 100th rank in the world. Djokovic did survive the four-and-a-half-hour and five set scar in 2016 in the fourth round when he played against Frenchman Gilles Simon but this time there was no escape for him. The 12-time Grand Slam champion did try hard but it was never enough against Denis. Certainly, this is the biggest win for Denis and it means so much for him.
Playing in the first set, Djokovic made out that this is not going to be easy, so he tried his best to win the next two to put pressure on Denis. But on the other side of the court the aces and strong headed Denis wasn’t ready to give up. The match resulted in his favor making him one of in the history to beat Grand Slam Champion. While Serena, Angelique Kerber, Venus Williams, Stan Wawrinka, Tomas Berdych, Roger Federer, T-Songa, Nishikori, Andy Murray and Nadal are still surviving on the court this Australian Open is getting interesting day-by-day.