Rochus too good for Djokovic
Source: Agencies |
March 28, 2010, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
FORMER champion and world No. 2 Novak Djokovic was knocked out of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, on Friday, falling 2-6, 7-6 (7), 4-6 to Belgian Olivier Rochus in his opening match.
After two rain delays that forced organizers to reschedule some matches, Rochus secured his biggest win since he beat then world No. 2 Marat Safin at Wimbledon in 2002.
"He was motivated to win against somebody who's better ranked, top player," said Djokovic, who won the title here in 2007. "He didn't have anything to lose."
The Serb committed 62 unforced errors and nearly lost his cool during the two-hour, 55-minute second-round match.
He slammed his racket during the opening game of the second set when Rochus came back from 0-40 down and after the match he left the court to jeers but still gave the crowd a thumbs up.
"I never expected to win," said Rochus, who won a Wimbledon juniors double title with Roger Federer in 1998.
"Novak, he has won a Masters Series five times; he won a grand slam, many things I have never done in my life. He is No. 2, so I think he has more experience than me."
Djokovic's loss was the biggest surprise of the day but Spanish fourth seed Rafael Nadal was in no mood to be upset, breezing through his match with a 6-4, 6-3 win over American Taylor Dent.
In the women's draw, world No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki also struggled through her opening match but advanced with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova.
Justine Henin beat world No. 5 Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-2 to register an eighth triumph in nine attempts against the Russian, while fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters eased past Czech Petra Kvitova 6-1, 6-1 in just 55 minutes.
Serbian Jelena Jankovic and champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus also won in the women's draw, with the seventh seed Jankovic brushing aside Ukraine's Mariya Koryttseva 6-4, 6-0 and fourth-seeded Azarenka beating Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania 6-3, 6-2, finishing shortly before rain began to fall, causing a 2 1/2-hour delay.
There was an upset as Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano beat the last Chinese singles player in the draw, Zheng Jie, the 20th seed, 6-4, 6-2. Li Na and Peng Shuai lost in their opening matches on Thursday.
In late matches, Andy Roddick ousted Russian Igor Andreev 6-4, 6-4 in a match that stretched into early yesterday, and Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 6-3 to move on in the men's side.
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