Novak crashes out in Monte Carlo
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DEFENDING champion Novak Djokovic was stunned 4-6, 6-2, 4-6 by Czech Jiri Vesely, the world No. 55, in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters in Monaco yesterday.
Djokovic, winner of two of the last three editions in the Principality and the player who has dominated the ATP rankings over the past two seasons, was unable to mount a recovery against an opponent who got the upper hand by winning the opening set.
Djokovic came in with 22 consecutive wins in Masters 1000 play, with his last defeat coming in August in Cincinnati against Roger Federer.
The world No. 1 had won his last 14 matches and boasts four titles already in 2016, including the US Masters double from last month in Indian Wells and Miami.
Earlier, eight-time champion Rafael Nadal dropped serve twice and still beat Aljaz Bedene of Britain 6-3, 6-3 in the second round.
Nadal was broken for a second time when serving for the match at 5-2, but the Spaniard broke straight back to seal victory.
The fifth-seeded Nadal, who won the last of his titles here in 2012, next faces 12th-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria.
No. 4 Stanislas Wawrinka, the 2014 champion and reigning French Open champion, also advanced, beating German Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6 (2), 7-5 and next faces No. 15 Gilles Simon of France.
“I saw him play against (Grigor) Dimitrov yesterday and he’s in very good shape right now,” said Wawrinka, who leads Simon 3-2 in career head-to-heads. “You need to be clear about what you want to try to do against him, and you need to stick with your plan.”
The 31-year-old Wawrinka is one of only four men to have disrupted the Big Four’s trophy dominance of Masters 1000 titles since Monte Carlo 2010. Fifty of the last titles in the series have been won by either Djokovic (23), Nadal (12), Federer (8) or Andy Murray (7).
Wawrinka is part of an elite spoiler’s list also comprising Robin Soderling (Paris-Bercy 2010), David Ferrer (Paris-Bercy 2012) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Toronto 2014).
Elsewhere, No. 6 Tomas Berdych, last year’s runner-up, squandered eight break-point chances in losing to 99th-ranked Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia 4-6, 7-6 (1), 3-6.
Also, No. 10 Milos Raonic of Canada had 11 aces in defeating Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay 7-5, 6-2, 7-6 (5); and No. 16 Benoit Paire of France also progressed.
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