Chung gives Djokovic a taste of his own medicine

Chung Hyeon of South Korea reacts during his match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia – REUTERS 

• South Korean Chung Hyeon stuns the six-times Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic

MELBOURNE (Reuters): For Novak Djokovic it must have felt like some nightmarish fight to the death against a clone of himself on Monday as Chung Hyeon stunned the six-times Australian Open champion with a display ripped straight out of the Serb’s textbook.

The 30-year-old who has ruled like no other on Rod Laver Arena simply had no answer as Chung, nine years his junior, wore him into the ground to win 7-6(4) 7-5 7-6(3) and become the first South Korean to reach a grand slam quarter-final where he will face American Tennys Sandgren.

Time and again during the three hour 21 minute encounter, 14th seed Djokovic had Chung on the run but the world number 58 displayed almost superhuman court coverage to prevail in rallies he had no right to still be involved in.

It is exactly those defensive skills that have earned Djokovic 12 grand slam titles and it was no surprise when, after claiming the biggest scalp of his career, the spectacle-wearing Chung described the Serb as his idol.

Tellingly, Chung won 34 of the 54 rallies that exceeded nine strokes, most memorably when he slid at full-stretch to hook a forehand winner past his opponent to take a 5-3 lead in the third set tiebreak.

It proved the final straw for a weary Djokovic who netted a forehand return on the next point and then shunted a backhand into the tramlines after yet more Chung defiance.

The ice-cool Chung barely celebrated, but after being warmly congratulated by Djokovic he walked across to milk the applause from the sell-out crowd, including a sizeable Korean contingent.

To his credit Djokovic, who again wore a compression sleeve on his playing arm to protect the elbow that forced him off Tour last year and was clearly causing discomfort, fought tenaciously like the great champion he is.

Had he grabbed the third set a fightback might have been on the cards, although Chung, who frazzled fourth-seeded German wunderkind Alexander Zverev in five sets in the previous round, can apparently run all night.

“I was just thinking ‘I’m two love up in sets so if I lose (the third) I still have two more sets. I can play two more hours. I’m younger than Novak so I don’t care!’” he said.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia waves as he leaves after losing against Chung Hyeon of South Korea – REUTERS

“I was just trying to copy Novak because he’s my idol. My dreams have come true tonight.”

Djokovic was always playing catch-up once he had dropped his opening two service games with a rash of double faults to trail 4-0. He clawed back that deficit, hit back from 4-1 in the second set and 3-1 in the third but could never get to grips with an opponent few will fancy facing.

“Congratulations to Chung on an amazing performance,” Djokovic said. “He deserved to win. Whenever he was in trouble he came out with some great passing shots and at the back of the court he was like a wall.”

There were signs that Djokovic was in pain with his elbow in the first set and he required treatment on that and his feet after losing the tiebreak 7-3.

The relentless Chung moved 4-1 ahead in the second set but again Djokovic recovered, only to falter when serving at 5-6. On set point Djokovic pounded three consecutive forehands deep in into Chung’s backhand, each one returned at full stretch, before Djokovic cracked and netted a forehand.

Djokovic fed off the energy of the crowd as he pushed for a break at 5-5 in the third set but there was no escape as Chung refused to flinch in a gripping climax.

Djokovic to reassess options over elbow injury

MELBOURNE (Reuters): Novak Djokovic said he would have to reassess the way forward for his injured elbow after it flared up again during his shock defeat by Chung Hyeon at the Australian Open on Monday.

The 30-year-old Serb wore a compression sleeve on his playing arm throughout the tournament, his first for six months, but after three relatively straightforward wins it was clear all was not well as he lost 7-6(4) 7-5 7-6(3) to Chung. He was shaking his arm during the first set and grimaced at times when serving using a re-modelled action.

“It’s not great. Unfortunately, it’s not great,” the six-times grand slam champion told reporters. “Kind of end of the first set it started hurting more.

“So, yeah, I had to deal with it till the end of the match.

“It’s frustrating, of course, when you have that much time and you don’t heal properly. But it is what it is.”

Djokovic needed treatment at the end of the first set but said the pain had been manageable.

“I felt the level of pain was not that high that I need to stop the match, even though it was obviously compromising my serve,” he said. “That is a big shot, especially against Chung, who returns well, gets a lot of balls back.”

Asked whether he would need another layoff, Djokovic said he would sit down with his coaching team.

“I really don’t know. I have to reassess everything with my team, medical team, coaches and everybody, scan it, see what the situation is like,” he said.

“Last couple weeks I played a lot of tennis. Let’s see what’s happening inside.”

It was Djokovic’s second successive early defeat at the Australian Open he used to dominate, having been beaten by Denis Istomin in the second round a year ago.

Djokovic did not want his condition to detract from the brilliance of Chung who produced a display reminiscent of the Serb at his best.

“Amazing. Amazing performance,” he said. “He was a better player on the court tonight. He deserved to win.

“We do play very similar. He definitely has the game to be a top-10 player, without a doubt. Obviously, I respect him a lot because he’s a hard worker, he’s disciplined, he’s a nice guy, he’s quiet. You can see that he cares about his career.

“I’m sure that he’s going to get some really good results in the future.”