Djokovic upset by Roberto Baustita Agut in Doha

Novak Djokovic had a rough ride in Doha that ended in the semifinal.

After a fantastic start of his campaign when he demolished Damir Dzumhur 6-1 6-2 in the opener, the world no.1 had a couple of tricky wins against Marton Fucsovic (4-6 6-4 6-1) and Nikoloz Basilshvili (4-6 6-3 6-4). That sent the message to his upcoming opponent, the world no.24 Roberto Bautista Agut, that the world no.1 was not at his very best and the Spaniard took full advantage of it.

The Match

Novak started in the best possible way after he grabbed a fast 3-0 lead that was enough to give him the first set (6-3).

When Djokovic broke the Spaniard in the 7th game of the second set (4-3) everything was pointing to a straight-sets win for the seed no.1. However, things got to the other direction. Roberto broke Novak in the following game to then win the subsequent tiebreak and bring the contest to the decider.

Djokovic was broken again in the first game of the third set. The Serb was struggling to hold for 4 consecutive games while Bautista Agut was becoming more and more confident. The Spaniard conceded just 5 points on serve for the rest of the match to win the contest 3-6 7-6 (6) 6-4 in 2 hours and 35 minutes.

I will remember this match all my life. BAUTISTA AGUT

After the match, the Spaniard commented

“I will remember this match all my life. It was an unbelievable atmosphere. I work every day to play this tennis. I know it’s difficult to play at this level. That’s why Novak is No. 1 in the world. But I cannot be more happy than I am now.”

The final vs. Berdych

Roberto will face Tomas Berdych in the final. The head to head is 4-2 for the Czech, but the Spaniard maybe the favorite to win the contest.