Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut rallied to shock world No 1 Novak Djokovic 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 on Tuesday and reach the quarter-finals of the Miami Open. This was the top seed’s second straight upset loss after the defeat against Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round at Indian Wells and his second loss to Bautista Agut this season. The Spaniard had stunned him from a set and a break down in 209’s first tournament in Doha.
Djokovic, who won the Australian Open with a commanding win over Rafael Nadal, has not found the same inspiration at other events this year.
The defeat derailed his bid for a record seventh Miami Open ATP title, capping a disappointing March on US hardcourts, also known as the “Sunshine swing”.
"Viva Espana in Miami" 🇪🇸@BautistaAgut earns consecutive wins over the World No.1 in 2019, d. Djokovic 1-6 7-5 6-3 to reach the QFs#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/z4oRddwGtZ
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 26, 2019
Don't think anyone saw that coming. After Djokovic took Nadal to the tennis woodshed in the Australian Open final, he loses to Kohlschreiber in the round of 32 in Indian Wells and to Bautista Agut in the round of 16 in Miami. Perhaps he's peaking for the Slams. Perhaps
— Christopher Clarey (@christophclarey) March 26, 2019
Players with wins over Djokovic at ATP events since Wimbledon: Tsitsipas, Khachanov, Zverev, Bautista Agut, Kohlschreiber, Bautista Agut.
— Tumaini Carayol (@tumcarayol) March 26, 2019
Players with wins over Djokovic at slams since Wimbledon: .
It's pretty clear what inspires Djokovic's best tennis these days.
Djokovic is 40-2 when winning first set since July 2018. Both losses to Bautista Agut. Incredible. #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/Q5fUNCZxpl
— Ilya Ryvlin (@ryvlin) March 26, 2019
[22] @BautistaAgut d. [1] #Djokovic 16 75 63 to reach @MiamiOpen QF for 1st time in 8 appearances. All 3 of RBA's wins over #Djokovic have come when the Serb was ranked No. 1. It is his 4th career #ATPMasters1000 QF, 1st since 2017 @rogerscup.
— ATP Media Info (@ATPMediaInfo) March 27, 2019
This was a ridiculous point. Cannot get over how absurdly good Djokovic's full stretch volley was, let alone the RBA lob. https://t.co/vaUWQRe9bz
— Matthew Willis (@MattRacquet) March 26, 2019
Novak Djokovic on his Sunshine Swing (a third round defeat in Indian Wells and a fourth round defeat in Miami): "Just way too many things off the court. I guess that affected me a little bit on the court. I didn't feel my best."
— Stuart Fraser (@stu_fraser) March 27, 2019
Novak Djokovic just completed the Sunshine Quadruple of disastrous losses in Indian Wells and Miami in two consecutive seasons
— Ricky Dimon (@Dimonator) March 26, 2019
Taro Daniel R2 IW
Benoit Paire R2 MIA
Philipp Kohlschreiber R3 IW
Roberto Bautista Agut R4 MIA
If looks could kill.#Djokovic to his camp after missing a backhand down the line into the net on the second of two break points at 1-1. Deuce. pic.twitter.com/NOAwwmJa2q
— Live Tennis (@livetennis) March 26, 2019
Batista-Agut can easily beat Djokovic, but Djokovic easily beats Nadal and Nadal easily beats Batista-Agut 🤔 tennis is a funny game! #SSTennis #MiamiOpen
— Lebo Pelesane (@lebopee) March 26, 2019
You can't spell "Djokovic is forced to battle in a deciding set" without R-B-A.
— Wilfy (@whitelinefervor) March 26, 2019
Everyone knows this is true.