Miami: Indian Wells champion Dominic Thiem’s bid for a ‘Sunshine Slam’ met with a quick end as he fell 4-6, 4-6 to Hubert Hurkacz in the Miami Open tennis tournament second round here Friday, while World No.1 Novak Djokovic wasted little time in dispatching Bernard Tomic 7-6(7-2), 6-2.
The 22-year-old Hurkacz broke third seed Thiem four times, including in the final games of each set, to record the biggest win of his career. Thiem, who beat Roger Federer to win his first career Masters 1000 title Sunday at the BNP Paribas Open, was uncharacteristically sloppy on the Grandstand court. He committed 22 unforced errors in the two sets.
Fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori was also sent packing in the second round going down to Serbian Dusan Lajovic 6-2, 2-6, 3-6. The Japanese had a first round bye and appeared headed for a routine victory until Lajovic, who was misfiring in the early stages of the match, suddenly stepped up his game.
“He (Lajovic) definitely raised his level (in the) second and third sets. He wasn’t missing much like in the first set. He served well in the end,” said Nishikori after the game. “Maybe I didn’t play quite my best today. Credit to him.”
Nishikori, playing in his first match since falling in the third round at Indian Wells last week, had his serve broken five times during the match.
Next up for World No.44 Lajovic, who had lost in the first round of five tour-level events this season, will be a clash with Nick Kyrgios after the Australian defeated qualifier Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 7-5, 6-3.
Reuters