Unquestionably, there were big surprises this Friday in the quarter-finals at the Vienna Open. Three of the top big names got knocked out in straight sets and were left stunned. They were simply outplayed by their opponents and this will definitely help them prepare for the Paris Masters next week.
Novak Djokovic Stunned By Lorenzo Sonego
Indeed, the biggest surprise of the tournament was the elimination of World #1 Novak Djokovic. The Serbian was playing great tennis and had not dropped a set, but was put to work by Borna Coric in the previous round. Sonego is a lucky loser as he had lost in the final stage of qualifying to Aljaz Bedene. He was then added to the main due to some injuries of some players. Clearly, that was an opportunity that the Italian took to full advantage.
To demonstrate he took advantage of the other players injuries, he played lights out against every opponent he faced. He dominated Djokovic, who just didn’t look like himself during the match. He went down four games to love and ended up losing the first set 6-2. The second set was more like the first and the Italian took the win with a 6-2, 6-1 victory knocking out the top seed. Sonego will now play
Dominic Thiem Eliminated By Andrey Rublev
Next, defending champion Dominic Thiem was eliminated by the young Russian, Andrey Rublev. The first set was very competitive as it went to a tie-break were Rublev took it. Thiem looked like he was suffering some kind of injury as he kept grabbing his knees and foot. When the match was done, he spoke to the media and said he’s been having physical problems since his first match.
Clearly, that impacted the Austrian in the second set as he looked off his games. He looked like he was bothered by something and wanted to end the points quickly. That reflected his game and lost the second set 6-2.
Daniil Medvedev Gets Stunned By Kevin Anderson
Fourth seed, Daniil Medvedev, lost in two sets to the South African, Kevin Anderson. Anderson served pretty well throughout the match and saved the only break point he had in the match. Medvedev has been struggling ever since reaching the semi-finals at the US Open. He had not won back to back matches until this event.
On the other hand, Anderson will play a semi-final match after 21 months of not doing so. Anderson has been playing great tennis thus far and will continue that trend in his next match.
Grigor Dimitrov Loses To Dan Evans
Lastly, the Bulgarian was coming on a high note into this match. He had defeated two top players in Karen Kachanov and Stefanos Tsitsipas in the previous rounds. He played well in the first two sets even though he lost the first set in a tie-break. He bounced back in the second set but Evans simply played better in the final set. The British player is having two great weeks as earlier he also made it to the semi-finals in Antwerp. This time he will look to make it all the way to the final.
Main Photo from Getty.
