Despite only winning four games in their previous two encounters, the 32-year-old Lajovic prevailed 6-4, 7-6(6) after surviving 15 of 16 break points.
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In the quarterfinals of the Srpska Open in Banja Luka on Friday, Dusan Lajovic stunned top seed Novak Djokovic with a crucial display on his serve, becoming the first player to defeat a World No. 1 in history. Despite only winning four games in their previous two encounters, the 32-year-old Lajovic prevailed 6-4, 7-6(6) after surviving 15 of 16 break points. In the second set tie-break, Lajovic averted three set points.
In order to earn his third career victory over a Top-5 player, Lajovic remained aggressive, occasionally serving and volleying to put Djokovic under pressure. He also moved the 22-time major champion to all four corners of the court. In the second set, when Lajovic had three break points at 4-4, 0/40, Djokovic rallied to force a tie-break and then jumped out to a 6/3 lead. To secure a two-hour, 29-minute victory, Lajovic maintained his composure and won five straight points, including a thrilling 15-ball rally at 7/6.
“I’m overwhelmed, it is the biggest win of my career,” Lajovic said in his on-court interview. “The emotions are very mixed because I’m playing here in front of the home town and I’m also playing against Nole who is a good friend and he’s a hero of our country. Beating him, it’s something that I didn’t even think is going to be possible, but it happened.”
Since Janko Tipsarevic defeated him at the ATP Masters 1000 competition in Madrid in May 2012, Djokovic has lost three times this year, and this is his first defeat at the hands of a fellow Serbian. After losing, Djokovic praised his friend. “Dusan is a fantastic person, great guy,” Djokovic said. “Someone I’ve known for a very long time, since he started playing professional tennis.
So many times on the Davis Cup team together, trained together. I’m happy for him, to be honest. I know this is an important win for him considering the last 12 months that he’s been through, it’s not been easy for him. He’s playing well and he deserved to win today.”
At the Barcelona Open on Friday, Carlos Alcaraz prevailed in straight sets over a challenging test from a fellow Spaniard for the second straight day. The 19-year-old defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6(5), 6-4 on Friday to advance to the semi-finals at home after defeating Roberto Bautista Agut on Thursday. In four Barcelona matches against his countrymen, Alcaraz has not dropped a set.
This includes a victory over Pablo Carreno Busta in the 2017 final. He is currently 8-1 overall at the ATP 500 tournament and 9-1 against Spanish opposition since the beginning of 2022. His only loss came to Frances Tiafoe in his 2021 debut.
“It was really tough for me,” Alcaraz assessed. “I started playing pretty well, serving for the first set. I was not able to win [that game]… I was going really fast, a lot of things on my mind. [After the first set] I was talking to myself, positive things, trying to play long rallies, trying to [be there] through the points, trying to feel more comfortable with myself.”
