Djokovic restores order on day of upsets in Miami

Indian Wells champion Dominic Thiem’s bid for a ‘Sunshine Slam’ met ended quickly as he fell 6-4 6-4 to Hubert Hurkacz in the Miami Open second round on Friday, while world No.1 Novak Djokovic wasted little time in dispatching Bernard Tomic.

While both men finished with 23 winners, Djokovic’s unforced error tally was far tidier than that of Tomic, who finished with 32.

The Serb extends his winning head-to-head record over the Australian to 6-0.

Meanwhile, the 22-year-old Hurkacz broke third seed Thiem four times, including in the final games of each set, to record the biggest win of his career.

???????? Hubert Hurkacz takes down the Indian Wells champion!

The Pole earns the biggest win of his career, d. Thiem 6-4 6-4#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/C5gGnIU0Gj

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 23, 2019

Austrian Thiem, who beat Roger Federer on Sunday to win his first career Masters 1000 title at the BNP Paribas Open, was uncharacteristically sloppy on the Grandstand court.

Kei Nishikori was also sent packing from the second round after Serbian Dusan Lajovic stunned the Japanese world No.6 2-6 6-2 6-3.

The fifth seed had a first-round bye and appeared headed for a routine victory until Lajovic, who was misfiring in the early stages of the match, suddenly stepped up his game.

“He definitely raised his level (in the) second and third sets. He wasn’t missing much like in the first set. He served well in the end,” said Nishikori. “Maybe I didn’t play quite my best today. Credit to him today.”

Nishikori, playing in his first match since falling in the third round at Indian Wells last week, had his serve broken five times during the match.

“I’m trying to keep my head up,” said Nishikori. “Clay-court season is coming. It’s a completely new season. I’ll try to have good practice, two more weeks, and be ready for Monte Carlo.”

Next up for world No.44 Lajovic, who had lost in the first round of five tour-level events this season, will be a clash with Nick Kyrgios after the Australian defeated qualifier Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 7-5 6-3.