Miami: Novak Djokovic’s pursuit of a record seventh Miami Open ATP title ended in dramatic fashion on Tuesday as Roberto Bautista Agut superbly recovered from a first set destruction to win 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 and book a place in the quarter-finals.The 30 year-old Spaniard may have beaten Djokovic on the way to winning the title in Doha earlier this year but 15-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic started like a train in this last 16 encounter before being amazingly reined back in.
After just 25 minutes, Djokovic was 5-0 ahead and on cruise control, Bautista Agut severely struggling to keep the Serbian at bay. A short rain delay late in the second set allowed Bautista Agut to regroup, however. He returned a completely different player and at the end of an absorbing two hours and 29 minutes, it was the number 22 seed who will now meet defending champion John Isner for a place in the semi-finals.
“Of course this is very special for me,” said Bautista Agut. “I just tried to play aggressive.” Djokovic left court and headed straight to a press conference to try and explain this most remarkable of turnarounds at Hard Rock Stadium. “He is a solid player but I shouldn’t have lost this match, I had way too many wasted opportunities,” said the world number one, who also failed to make the latter stages of Indian Wells this month.
