Tennis | Australian Open Djokovic out in second round, loses to Istomin

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic gestures to the crowd after losing to Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin at the Australian Open in Melbourne

It started badly for Novak Djokovic, who needed 24 serves, six break-point saves and 15 minutes just to hold his first game in the second round.

This was not the close-to-
invincible Djokovic that fans were used to seeing at the Australian Open, where he has won a record-equaling six titles, including five in the previous six years.

In his earliest loss at a Grand Slam tournament since 2008, Djokovic lost 7-6 (8), 5-7, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 yesterday to No. 117-ranked Denis Istomin, a 30-year-old wild-card entry from Uzbekistan.

“All the credit to Denis for playing amazing. He deserves to win,” Djokovic said of their four-
hour, 48-minute match. “He was the better player in the clutch moments.”

“Obviously, I was not pleased with my performance overall, but I have to congratulate my opponent. Whenever he needed, he came up with a big serve, big play.”

Djokovic hadn’t dropped a set to Istomin in six previous matches. But he lost the 85-minute first set in a tiebreaker and then seemed to get the momentum back, only for Istomin to finish stronger.

“It is the biggest win for me. It means so much,” Istomin said. “Now I feel I can play with these guys, and to be with them on the same level.”

Djokovic was the only one of the men’s seeded players to lose on a long day capped by ninth-seeded Rafael Nadal’s 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 win over 2006 finalist Marcos Baghdatis.

Both players have had famously late nights at Melbourne Park — Nadal losing the latest-finishing final in Grand Slam history; Baghdatis losing to Lleyton Hewitt in third-round match in 2008 that finished at 4:34 a.m.

“I’m not used to losing Australian Open second round,” Djokovic said. “I’ve done so well here.”

That didn’t matter to Istomin, nor seemingly to the Rod Laver Arena crowd.

The center court wasn’t at capacity as the match extended into the scheduled night session, and Djokovic’s usually vocal Serbian fans were also not a big presence.

Much of the crowd, sensing an upset, was behind Istomin in the fifth set. When the Uzbek made a backhand winner for the decisive break in the fifth game of the last set, he let out a roar and the audience roared, too. MDT/AP