Madrid, May 9 (IANS): Kyle Edmund of the United Kingdom on Wednesday upset two-time champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the second round of the Madrid Open tennis championship.
Edmund earned his 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 win over the 10th-seed and former world No.1 Djokovic in an hour and 29 minutes, reports Efe.
Earlier this year, Djokovic, now the World No. 12, underwent surgery for a right elbow injury, which has marred his last few seasons.
World number one Rafael Nadal took his winning streak to 48 successive sets with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Gael Monfils in his Madrid Masters opener on Wednesday.
He will next face either Spanish compatriot Feliciano Lopez or Diego Schwartzman of Argentina for a place in the quarter-finals.
Edmund, the World No. 22, is set to play the third round match against eighth-seed David Goffin of Belgium, who defeated Dutchman Robin Haase 7-5, 6-2.
Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber upset Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 in the second round.
World No. 28 Kohlschreiber needed two hours and 32 minutes to defeat world No. 14 Bautista, a semi-finalist in 2014.
Bautista was looking forward to claiming his third title in 2018 after winning the Auckland Open and the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Kohlschreiber is set to play the third round against South Africa’s Kevin Anderson, sixth-seed and a finalist at the 2017 US Open, who defeated Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-2.
Wozniacki upset by Bertens; Halep keeps No.1 spot
Dutch woman tennis player Kiki Bertens on Wednesday knocked out Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-2 in the Madrid Open pre-quarterfinals.
This means Romania’s Simona Halep, the title defender, is to keep her No.1 spot in the world rankings regardless of how she finishes in Madrid.
World No.2 Wozniacki, a finalist in 2009, needed to reach the final this year to depose Halep from her place atop the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) singles rankings, but world No.20 Bertens prevented that by defeating her in just 61 minutes.
Earlier on Wednesday, Halep strolled into the quarter-finals with a 6-1 6-4 win over Czech Kristyna Pliskova.
In the quarter-finals, Bertens is to face the winner of the match between Russia’s Maria Sharapova and France’s Kristina Mladenovic.
