Novak Djokovic suffered a bitter defeat at the hands of 19-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas in the third round of the Rogers Cup.
The ninth seeded Serbian, fresh from his excellent title win at Wimbledon, was expected to be one of the favourites at the Rogers Cup, if not the US Open that starts in a couple of weeks but went out in three sets to his inexperienced but potential-filled opponent.
Tsitsipas fired 11 aces but it was his first serve win percentage of 83% that helped him clinch the tie after he had lost the second tie-breaker. Djokovic was broken twice in the match but could never break his opponent and crashed out of the competition after a two-hour battle.
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This win followed a victory over the seventh seeded Dominic Thiem in his previous round for Tsitsipas, a Greek teenager who turns 20 this Sunday. The 27th-ranked player made it to his first ever Masters quarter-final as a result.
He said he was worried after losing the second set but tried to remain calm throughout the match which helped him win the encounter.
The 19-year-old will now take on defending champion Alexander Zverev in his last-eight encounter who had no difficulties in overcoming Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in straight sets, winning 6-3, 6-2.
Kevin Anderson and Grigor Dimitrov are also through to the last eight.
Among others to make the quarter-finals are French Open champion Rafael Nadal, the top seed who overcame Stan Wawrinka 7-5, 7-6 in a tough battle and will now take on Marin Cilic. Cilic had no difficulties disposing off Diego Schwartzman.
South Africa’s Kevin Anderson overcame Belarus’s Ilya Ivashka 7-5, 6-3 while Grigor Dimitrov had a toughie against Frances Tiafoe before winning 7-6 (7-1), 3-6, 7-6 (7-4).
Robin Haase will now take on Karen Khachanov in the next round after they overcame Denis Shapovalov and John Isner respectively in straight sets to make it to the round of eight.
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