Novak Djokovic gets eliminated from Qatar Open

It is the second time Bautista Agut has beaten Djokovic in his career and both victories occurred in a semifinal.

Saima Siddiqui
Published on: 5 Jan 2019 5:29 AM GMT
Novak Djokovic gets eliminated from Qatar Open
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Novak Djokovic gets eliminated from Qatar Open

Doha: The World number one, Novak Djokovic has surprisingly lost Qatar Open semifinal to the world number 24, Roberto Bautista Agut, 6-3, 6-7 (8/6), 6-4.

The Serb on Friday fell to his first defeat of the season in a high-quality contest lasting more than two-and-a-half hours.

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"What happened? I lost the match. That's it," Djokovic said in his post-match press conference.

It is the second time Bautista Agut has beaten Djokovic in his career and both victories occurred in a semifinal.

The first came in October 2016 in Shanghai. Djokovic was also world number 1 at that stage.

The Serb played two matches each day for three days in singles and doubles, prior to Friday's defeat.

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Including the meeting with Bautista Agut, Djokovic spent almost 10 hours on court in three days and played 11 sets in singles' matches.

"Obviously, I'm not pleased that I lost the match today, but I lost to a better player in the end," said Djokovic.

Djokovic, the world number one was looking to becoming a three-time champion at the event in Doha but was unable to get past Roberto Bautista Agut in the last four.

Defeat saw Djokovic’s 13-game winning run in Qatar come to an end, leaving the player frustrated and smashing his a racket in the second set.

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Saima Siddiqui

Saima Siddiqui

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