Courtesy: Google
Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic has crashed out of the Brisbane International after suffering a shock defeat against American Reilly Opelka in straight sets in the quarter-final round earlier today. In his pursuit of the 100th ATP title, Novak Djokovic lost to Reilly Opelka, who has been one of the stories on the tour over the past few months, with a scoreline of 7-6(8-6), 6-3 after battling for more than one and a half hours at the Pat Rafter Arena on Friday, January 3.
After going down in the Brisbane International quarter-final round in straight sets, Novak Djokovic is now going to shift his attention to winning the Australian Open Grand Slam for the 11th time in his career under new coach Andy Murray. If he manages to replicate his heroics in Melbourne over the years, then he will not only win his 100th ATP title, but also become the first player in tennis history to become a 25-time Grand Slam champion in tennis.
Djokovic is the greatest tennis player ever. But it's difficult being in his position: Opelka
In the semi-final of the Brisbane International, world number 193 Reilly Opelka will be playing against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard of France, while in the other semi-final, defending champion Grigor Dimitrov of Russia will play against Jiri Lehecka of Czechia. In the post-match interview, Opelka was quoted as saying as per BBC Sport, “He (Djokovic) is the greatest tennis player ever. But it's difficult being in his position.”
“The reality is we have nothing to lose against him, so you end up playing more freely and taking a lot more risks because it's your only chance. If you play your normal level, he wins every time,” Reilly Opelka added. After returning on the ATP World Tour following a elongated period on the sidelines due to hip and wrist surgeries, the 27-year-old talked about how tough it was for him to bounce back as those couple of years were filled with a lot of uncertainty and doubt.
