World No 1 Novak Djokovic and US Open champion Dominic Thiem crashed out of the Vienna Open in the quarter-finals Friday, with both top seeds beaten in straight sets by Lorenzo Sonego and Andrey Rublev respectively.
Djokovic, who had a 39-2 record this year, failed to convert a single break point in a 6-2 6-1 loss while Sonego broke the Serb five times for the biggest win of his career.
Sonego’s first top-10 victory capped a dream week for the 25-year old, who lost the final qualifier but entered the main draw as a lucky loser.
Djokovic said knowing that he had already secured the year-end No 1 spot in the ranking affected his performance and the 33-year old, who will not be defending his Paris Masters crown, is already looking forward to the season-ending ATP Finals.
The world number one went 5-6 down in the first set to Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta when he hit a ball in the direction of the female official
Posted by Sports Tribune on Sunday, 6 September 2020
Earlier, Russian Rublev ousted defending champion Thiem 7-6 (5) 6-2, firing 30 winners and saving both break points he faced.
With neither player dropping serve in the opening set, it was Rublev who managed to swing the momentum his way in the tiebreak with what he described as “two unreal rallies” at 4-3 before early breaks in the second allowed him to seal the tie.
Rublev is seeking a Tour-leading fifth title of the year having won in Doha, Adelaide, Hamburg and, most recently, St Petersburg earlier this month.