MELBOURNE – On a day that saw Roger Federer prevail over Marton Fucsovics of Hungary and reach the Australian Open quarterfinals for the 14th time, Novak Djokovic’s defeat to Hyeon Chung of South Korea would be considered a major upset if this wasn’t the Serb’s first tournament after a six-month hiatus due to a persistent elbow injury. Personally, I am only surprised to a certain extent.
This is Djokovic’s first three-set loss at the Australian Open – a tournament that he won six times – since 2007 when he was 19 years old. Chung disposed of both Zverev brothers in the previous rounds and looked particularly convincing when he bageled Sascha in the fifth set of their third-round encounter.
Chung is currently ranked No. 58 in the world, but two years ago he also reached No. 51 before having to deal with several injuries. Last November the South Korean captured the Next-Gen ATP Finals in Milan showing great consistency and amazing flexibility, which certainly resembles Novak Djokovic’s game. The Serb must have felt that he was playing against a younger version of himself during last night’s match.
Despite the multiple injuries that derailed Chung’s progress for a couple of years, the young rising star moves extremely well on a tennis court and truly gets every ball back. Last night he played some unbelievable forehand passing-shots on the run. Novak said that the elbow was still bothering him during his service motion, but the truth is that the Serb lost many long rallies against a younger and fitter opponent. Many doubts about his future persist, even if the hole he dug himself in doesn’t seem to be as deep as Murray’s.
Tennis is currently the fifth sport in Korea after football, basketball, volleyball and ice-hockey. “Maybe after tonight tennis will become a little more popular,” Chung joked with the press. The South Korean avoided questions about the political situation between North and South Korea. “Hyeon doesn’t speak good enough English to talk about such a delicate topic with the international press,” the ATP P.R. manager said.
In my opinion, the real surprise of the tournament is world No. 97 Tennys Sandgren of the United States. The American took advantage of Stan Wawrinka’s precarious physical shape in the second-round with the Swiss competing in his first tournament after a knee surgery that sidelined him for the second half of the 2017 season. Yesterday Sandgren surprised No. 5-seed Dominic Thiem in a see-saw five set match during which the American failed to convert a match-point in the fourth set before shutting the door in the fifth. My American colleagues told me that they know very little about Sandgren, even if it is not a secret that the Tennessee native is a big Republican party supporter like Isner and Querrey. Apparently Sandgren is even more of a far-right supporter than his two fellow players.
The top half of the men’s draw will feature a surprise quarterfinal between Chung and Sandgren along with chapter No. 26 of the rivalry between Roger Federer and Tomas Berdych. Roger leads the head-to-head 19-6. Yesterday Tomas defeated Fabio Fognini in straight sets, sending home the last Italian left in the draw.
In the women’s tournament, Angelique Kerber had to battle three sets against the surprising Su-Wei Hsieh of Taiwan, while world of No. 1 Simona Halep cruised past Naomi Osaka of Japan.
Tonight’s matches will feature a very intriguing clash between Rafael Nadal and Marin Cilic, while Grigor Dimitrov will have to overcome the challenge presented by Kyle Edmund of Great Britain.
(Article translation provided by T&L Global – Translation & Language Solutions – www.t-lglobal.com )
