World number seven Thiem laid down a marker in the opening stages, holding to love before breaking the Djokovic serve with a clean forehand winner. Djokovic faced a set point on his own serve when trailing 5-2, but saved it with a volley to force Thiem to serve for the opener. And Thiem continued to throw in a series of poor shots, double faulting on Djokovic’s first set point as the 30-year-old took the breaker 7-2. Djokovic, now ranked 13, missed a chance to level immediately and Thiem then continued his momentum to break the faltering Serbian again. The key moment came in the seventh game of the third set, when Djokovic lost a 40-15 lead and Thiem broke with a venomous backhand up the line.

Source: Punch April 19, 2018 14:48 UTC