Page 18 - ARUBA TODAY

A18 SPORTS
Tuesday 23 January 2018

No quarter a given: Djokovic, Thiem out; Chung, Sandgren in

By JOHN PYE “Amazing. Amazing per- “I felt the level of pain was was given his first name mer the Australian and U.S.
AP Sports Writer formance,” said Djokovic, not that high that I need in memory of his great- Open champion’s tourna-
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) who was seeded 14th after to stop the match, even grandfather. Defending ment could unravel against
— Even by Australian Open his ranking slid in 2017 while though it was obviously champion Roger Federer, No. 88 Hsieh Su-wei, a for-
standards, back-to-back
shockers have resulted in a
most unexpected quarterfi-
nal.
The season-opening Grand
Slam has a tendency to be
unpredictable, but losing
six-time champion Novak
Djokovic and fifth-ranked
Dominic Thiem within a few
hours on Monday leaves
Hyeon Chung and Tennys
Sandgren playing for a spot
in the semifinals.
The 58th-ranked Chung re-
lentlessly attacked a clear-
ly injured Djokovic in a 7-6
(4), 7-5, 7-6 (3) fourth-round
victory, becoming the first
South Korean to reach the
last eight at a Grand Slam.
Then there’s Tennys.
The 26-year-old from Ten-
nessee had never won a
Grand Slam match or beat-
en a top-10 player until last
week. The 97th-ranked
Sandgren beat Thiem 6-2,
4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (7), 6-3, fol-
lowing up on his earlier
victory over 2014 Austra-
lian Open champion Stan
Wawrinka.
He’s only the second man
in 20 years to reach the
quarterfinals in his debut at
Melbourne Park.
The bespectacled Chung
ripped 47 winners, includ-
ing a forehand on the slide United States’ Tennys Sandgren reacts during his fourth round match against Austria’s Dominic Thiem at the Australian Open tennis
and at full stretch that put championships in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 22, 2018. Associated Press
him within two points of vic-
tory, and credited Djokovic he was off the tour. compromising my serve. meanwhile, had no real mer top-ranked doubles
as his inspiration. “Whenever he was in trou- “That’s life. I have to move difficulties in reaching the player with a double-hand-
“When I’m young, I’m just ble, he came up with some on.” Australian Open quarterfi- ed grip on both sides.
trying to copy Novak be- unbelievable shots. Just The 26-year-old Sandgren nals for the 14th time. Kerber recovered for a 4-6,
cause he’s my idol,” Chung from the back of the court, missed a match point in He beat Marton Fucsov- 7-5, 6-1 win that earned her
said. “I can’t believe this you know, he was like a the fourth set but held on ics 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-2 and will a quarterfinal spot against
tonight. Dreams come true wall.” to beat Thiem. next renew a lengthy rivalry U.S. Open finalist Madison
tonight.” Chung was coming off a “I don’t know if this is a against Tomas Berdych, Keys, who beat No. 8 Caro-
Djokovic was playing his first win over fourth-seeded Al- dream or not — all you who had a 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 win line Garcia 6-3, 6-2.
competitive tennis since exander Zverev, and is on guys are here, so maybe over Fabio Fognini. “Credit to her. She played
Wimbledon last July, and a roll. it’s not,” Sandgren said in The win over Fucsovics was an unbelievable match,”
had to remodel his service Djokovic wasn’t even sure an on-court TV interview af- Federer’s first day match said Kerber, who is on a
swing to take some load off until the last minute that he ter his win. of the 2018 tournament, 13-match winning streak.
his injured right elbow. would be able to play at “I’m not in my underwear, and he joked about need- “I was feeling I was running
He winced and grimaced Melbourne Park, but was so maybe it’s not a dream.” ing sunglasses and a towel everywhere.”
throughout the match, par- fit enough to beat Donald He described it later has “a for the beach but said re- Top-seeded Simona Ha-
ticularly when stretching for Young, Gael Monfils and real ‘pinch-me’ moment.” ally the only change was to lep, who had to rally from
backhands, and needed a No. 21 Albert Ramos-Vino- Sandgren converted half set the alarm for a different triple match point down to
medical timeout in the sec- las. Chung was a different of his eight break-point time. advance through the third
ond set for massage on his proposition. chances, and fended Angelique Kerber, the only round, beat Naomi Osaka
injured elbow. “I had similar situations in off 10 of the 12 he faced Grand Slam singles cham- 6-3, 6-2.
The 12-time major cham- the past where I found my- against Thiem. pion remaining in the wom- Halep will next play sixth-
pion said he would need self struggling a little bit with He hit 63 winners against 38 en’s draw, was up earlier seeded Karolina Pliskova,
to reassess the injury, but some injuries during the unforced errors. than Federer, and got a who rounded off Day 8 with
didn’t want his pain to de- match, then I managed to “Trying to keep riding the serious wakeup call. a 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2 win over
tract from Chung’s win. win,” Djokovic said. wave,” said Sandgren, who For a while it appeared for- No. 20 Barbora Strycova.q