Novak Djokovic suffered his first defeat of the 2024 season. This Wednesday (3), in Perth, the world number 1 suffered from pain in his right wrist and ended up being beaten by Alex de Minaur – double 6/4 in 1h33min.
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This was the Serb’s first defeat on Australian soil since 2018, interrupting an unbeaten streak of 43 games in the country.
Thus, with De Minaur’s victory, Australia took a 1-0 lead over Serbia in the quarter-finals of the United Cup, a mixed team tournament held in Perth. Ajla Tomljanovic beat Nataljia Stevanovic in the women’s match and sealed the hosts’ triumph.
It is worth remembering that Djokovic had already felt pain in his wrist on Tuesday (2), when he beat Czech Jiri Lehecka in the group stage of the United Cup.
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The world number 1 underwent physiotherapy and was released to play this Wednesday. He did not request a three-minute medical timeout against De Minaur, but received assistance from the physiotherapist.
World number 12, De Minaur achieved his first victory over Djokovic in two games against the Serb – they also met at last year’s Australian Open. It was the Australian’s second triumph against a top 10 tennis player at the start of the season – he also beat American Taylor Fritz for the United Cup.
“It’s extremely special. Novak is an unbelievable competitor and what he’s done for the sport is very special. It’s surreal, incredible and I’m happy to do it here in Perth and in Australia”.
“At the end of the day, when you go against Novak, you just need to go out there, try and have fun, support each other and no matter what happens, keep fighting until the end. It was my day. I’m happy I was able to beat it. It definitely means a lot,” said De Minaur.