Big Upsets of '18, No. 3: Djokovic's Paris plunge

By Van Sias Dec 29, 2018
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Big Upsets of '18, No. 3: Djokovic's Paris plunge

The 2016 French Open champion missed a prime opportunity to go fu

ByVan Sias

Published Dec 29, 2018

Enjoy a look back at the biggest upsets of the season, starting at No. 10 and counting all the way down to the top stunner of the year.

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Hyeon Chung. Taro Daniel. Martin Klizan.

Those are only three of the players who stunned Novak Djokovic in the first half of 2018 as the former world No. 1 worked his way back from an elbow injury while making adjustments in his coaching team.

Reuniting with his former coach Marian Vajda during the latter stages of the clay-court season, Djokovic showed signs of a rebound with his first semifinal at the Masters tournament in Rome. It was a much-needed confidence booster at the time as he entered the second Grand Slam tournament of the year, the French Open.

Over the course of the first week, Djokovic only dropped one set, defeating Top-10 caliber talent in the form of Roberto Bautista Agut and Fernando Verdasco in consecutive matches to reach the quarters.

There, he would face the unseeded Italian Marco Cecchinato, who defeated Pablo Carreno Busta and David Goffin, the tenth and eighth seeds, respectively, for his own statement-making run.

Five years apart in age, the older Djokovic was also light years ahead of the Italian in experience, having only won the first singles title of his career a few weeks prior. Despite being the underdog, Cecchinato won the first two sets playing inspired tennis.

Hanging on, though, against the 2016 Roland Garros champion would be a difficult task as Djokovic powered through the third set 6-1, sensing an opportunity with a return trip to the final only a couple of rounds away. The fourth set went to a tiebreak, which would be one of the year’s best. In the end, Cecchinato clinched it 13-11 to book his first-ever Grand Slam semifinal.

Afterward, Djokovic was despondent, even casting doubt on whether he would play during the grass-court season. We know now how that turned out.

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As for Cecchinato, he would be no flash in the pan as he picked up another title and finished the season in the top 20 for the first time in his career.

Follow Van on Twitter: @Van_Sias