Britain’s Kyle Edmund secured one of the biggest triumphs of his career by defeating former world No.1 Novak Djokovic 6-3 2-6 6-3 in the second round of the Madrid Open.
Djokovic, a two-time champion in the Spanish capital, has not won a deciding set this year and, having previously suffered final set losses to Martin Klizan, Dominic Thiem and Taro Daniel, the 30-year-old Serb’s disappointing run continued.
Australian Open semi-finalist Edmund claimed the decisive break in the eighth game of the decider before coolly closing out his service game to love for his 14th match win of the year
“It was a great experience to beat Novak; I’ve lost to him three times,” Edmund said.
“He’s a legend of the game so your first match when you share the court is an experience, but now, especially after reaching the semis of the Australian Open, it’s time to try and beat these guys and I was very pleased today how I managed my game, especially in the third set.
“After Australia I got a little bit ill and didn’t have a great run of results until I reached my first final [in Morocco] so it’s nice to come out here and beat a top player like Novak.”
It is the sixth straight tournament in which Djokovic has failed to reach the quarterfinals. The 12-time grand slam champion has struggled this year after saying he returned to action too quickly following a lingering right elbow injury.
“There are obvious things that are not working well for me,” Djokovic said. “But I have to keep working on them and pray that … and hope that my game will get stronger.”
Edmund, the world No.22, will face eighth-seeded Belgian David Goffin in the third round.
Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber beat Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3 4-6 7-5 in two hours and 32 minutes.
Bautista was looking forward to claiming his third title in 2018 after winning the Auckland Open and the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Kohlschreiber is set to play the third round against South Africa’s Kevin Anderson, sixth-seed and a finalist at the 2017 US Open, who defeated Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin, 5-7 7-6 (7-3) 6-2.
