Roberto Bautista Agut upset world number 1 player Novak Djokovic 3-6 7-6 6-4 after two hours and 35 minutes to reach the final at the Qatar Exxon Mobil Open in Doha.
Bautista Agut beat 14-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic for the second time in their nine head-to-head matches. The Spanish player claimed his first win over Djokovic at Shanghai Masters 1000 tournament in 2016.
The Spaniard won a solid match dropping his serve twice from the four break points he faced to score the eighth win against a top 10 player in his career.
Djokovic got his first break in the second game after a great rally and dropped just six points on serve to seal the opening set in the ninth game with a service winner.
Djokovic went up a set and a break in the seventh game of the second set to take a 4-3 lead after Bautista Agut made a backhand error. The Spanish player broke straight back in the next game. Djokovic fended off three set points to set up a tie-break. Bautista Agut earned another set point at 6-5 in the tie-break, but he did not convert it. The Spanish player won the breaker 8-6 after a backhand error from Djokovic. The Serbian player faced seven of eight break points in the second set.
“I will remember this match all my life. It was an unbelievable atmosphere. I work every day to play this tennis. I know it’s difficult to play this level. That’s why Novak is Number 1 player in the world. I cannot be more happy than I am now. I wanted to give everything I had in the match and fight until the last point. Finally I could turn the second set. Novak was up an dit was very tough. He was very solid and I had to play very good tennis. I had to play a lot of lines and serve very well. I did everything well today”, said Bautista Agut.
Bautista Agut got an early break at the start of the decisive set with a forehand winner. He was solid in his service games in the rest of the match and closed out the match with a hold at 15 in the 10th game.
Earlier this week Bautista Agut beat Stan Wawrinka in the quarter finals. He is bidding to win the ninth title of his career. Last March he won his most important tournament at the ATP 500 in Dubai.
This defeat stops Djokovic’s streak of five consecutive finals. The Serbian star had also won 13 consecutive matches in Doha. The Serbian player looked tired after winning back-to-back matches after coming back from one set down against Martin Fucsovics and Nikoloz Basilashvili.
