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Rediff.com  » Sports » Tennis Roundup: Edmund stuns Djokovic in Madrid second round

Tennis Roundup: Edmund stuns Djokovic in Madrid second round

Last updated on: May 09, 2018 23:11 IST
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Kyle Edmund

IMAGE: Kyle Edmund celebrates winning his second round match against Novak Djokovic. Photograph: Sergio Perez/Reuters

Britain's Kyle Edmund enjoyed one of the biggest triumphs of his career by defeating former world number one Novak Djokovic 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 in the second round of the Madrid Open on Wednesday.

Djokovic, a two-time champion in the Spanish capital, has not won a deciding set this year and, having previously suffered final set losses to Martin Klizan, Dominic Thiem and Taro Daniel, the 30-year-old Serb's disappointing run continued.

 

Edmund claimed the decisive break in the eighth game of the decider before coolly closing out his service game to love for his 14th match win of the year.

"It was a great experience to beat Novak, he is a legend of the game," Edmund told Sky Sports. "It's time to try and beat these guys and I was pleased how I managed my game."

The world number 22 will face eighth-seeded Belgian David Goffin in the third round.

Raonic ousts Dimitrov

Milos Raonic

IMAGE: Canada's Milos Raonic shakes hands with Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov after winning their second round match. Photograph: Juan Medina/Reuters

Milos Raonic overcame third seed Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the third round at the Madrid Open on Tuesday and set up an all-Canadian clash with teenager Denis Shapovalov.

Shapovalov had earlier produced a relentless display of big-hitting to deny France's Benoit Paire the perfect 29th birthday present with a 7-6(5), 4-6 6-4 victory.

Raonic edged a tight clash against an opponent he had only beaten once before, with Bulgarian Dimitrov struggling to build up momentum ahead of the French Open later this month.

Briton Kyle Edmund beat Russia's Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-0 to set up a second round clash with Novak Djokovic.

The Serb showed signs of a return to form after a difficult year, eliminating Kei Nishikori on Monday, but Edmund said he was not thinking about the 12-time grand slam champion’s game.

"I don't care, I'm just going to go out there and play my game, I can't be worrying about him," said Edmund.

"There's hundreds, so many players to be worrying about (whether) they've turned a corner. I think the person who's playing the best on clay at the minute is Rafa (Nadal)."

Top seed Nadal, chasing his sixth Madrid Open title, opens with a second-round match against Gael Monfils on Wednesday.

World number six Juan Martin del Potro started with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Bosnia's Damir Dzumhur to reach the third round. The Argentine saved two of three break points, with 19 winners and 20 unforced errors, to set up a clash with Dusan Lajovic.

"On clay he's a very powerful player, he plays a very intelligent game," Del Potro said of the Serbian. "It's going to be a tough match, like all of the matches on clay for me. I will just try to play a little bit better than today."

Croatia's Borna Coric upset ninth seed Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4, 6-2 in the opening round. Coric fought back from 4-3 down to win five straight games en route to his second straight win over the Spaniard, who he beat at the Qatar Open earlier this year.

Coric was leading 5-2 in the second set when heavy rain interrupted play at Caja Magica, and after a 40 minute delay he returned to complete his 16th match win of the season.

Dutchman Robin Haase snapped a four-match losing streak to record the 200th match win of his career, defeating South Korean Chung Hyeon 6-2, 6-0 in the other first round match.

Svitolina ousted by Suarez Navarro, Halep through in Madrid

Elina Svitolina suffered a shock 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 defeat by emotional local favourite Carla Suarez Navarro, while world number one Simona Halep beat Elise Mertens in the Madrid Open second round on Tuesday.

Suarez Navarro was brushed aside in the first set but battled back against Ukraine's world number four by scraping through a second-set tiebreak to set up a dramatic third.

Breaking to go 5-4 up, Suarez Navarro spurned four match points after leading 40-0 before taking a tumble on the final point but Svitolina sent her return long and the Spaniard burst into tears in front of the raucous home supporters.

"I'm feeling great, I'm very happy because at the end of the day, these type of victories are the victories that you need," said 29-year-old Suarez Navarro, the world number 25.

In the second set the Spaniard slipped and appeared to hurt her ankle, which was already strapped.

"I fell down because I twisted my ankle, my right ankle, but I feel good," she said. "I mean, I fell down in the second set (but) I could play all of the final set. Now (I will have) a little bit of treatment, but I will be fine for tomorrow."

Suarez Navarro will play American Bernarda Pera in the third round after she saw off Britain's Johanna Konta 6-4, 6-3.

Halep trounced out-of-sorts Elise Mertens 6-0, 6-3 to reach the third round and stay on course for her third consecutive title at the event.

The Romanian top seed wrapped up victory in just over an hour, hitting 23 winners with only 18 unforced errors as she ended the Belgian's 13-match winning streak.

Mertens has triumphed in Morocco and Switzerland this year but her form deserted her as she struggled to cope with Halep's combination of power, guile and relentless court coverage.

"I had to start the match very strongly and aggressively, which I did," said Halep. "After I played a few games, I felt really good on court. I felt very confident that I could win that match, I think I played well again."

Halep will face Kristyna Pliskova in the last 16 after the Czech beat Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo 7-5, 6-2.

Garbine Muguruza struggled at first against Donna Vekic but the third seed eventually found her game to win 2-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Muguruza has often struggled at the Caja Magica and after Vekic broke the Spaniard three times in the first set it looked like she was going to suffer again.

However as her Croatian opponent tired, Muguruza improved in equal measure and won the final set comfortably to set up a third round clash with 14th seed Daria Kastakina of Russia.

Petra Kvitova, seeded 10th, edged wild card Monica Puig 6-3, 7-6(8) and in the third round faces Estonia's Anett Kontaveit, who beat Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.

Kvitova dished out nine aces but made an equal number of double faults as she held on to extend her winning streak to seven matches despite her opponent's aggressive brand of tennis.

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Source: REUTERS
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