United Cup: De Minaur stops Djoker’s march

PERTH, January 3

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Novak Djokovic crashed to his first defeat of the season and first in Australia for six years with a stunning 6-4 6-4 loss to Alex de Minaur who gave Australia a 1-0 lead over Serbia in their United Cup quarterfinal today.

1 It was Djokovic’s first defeat in Australia since his last-8 loss at the Australian Open in 2018

Djokovic was on a 43-match winning run in Australia and preparing for a tilt at an 11th Melbourne Park title having last lost in the country to Chung Hyeon in the fourth round of the 2018 edition when he was plagued by an elbow issue.

Top seeds Poland beat China to reach the semifinals of after the big-hitting Hubert Hurkacz eased past Zhang Zhizhen 6-3 6-4 and Iga Swiatek beat Zheng Qinwen 6-2 6-3. — Reuters