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Australian Open 2017: Denis Istomin upsets Novak Djokovic in near five-hour epic

In one of the biggest upsets in Grand Slam history, six-time champion Novak Djokovic has been knocked out of the Australian Open after a bewildering display from Uzbek wildcard Denis Istomin.

Greg Baum
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The first game of this second-round encounter between Melbourne Park's near-to-perpetual champion and his wildcard challenger lasted 15 minutes and 24 points. For comparison's sake, Karolina Pliskova earlier had won a whole set in 25 minutes. When Djokovic won it, he raised both arms, as if that was the match.

How right he was, and how epochally wrong. Five sets and nearly five hours later, it was Istomin who had his arms in the air, part in exultation, part in disbelief, after knocking out Djokovic. The match of the tournament, in quality and drama, a titanic battle played throughout on another-worldly plane, produced a shock for the ages. "First of all, I feel sorry for Novak," Istomin said, fetchingly. "I was playing so good today. I surprised myself."

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Djokovic shocked in second round

World number 117 Denis Istomin caused a shock upset against Novak Djokovic after going 5 sets with the 2nd seed, while Caroline Wozniacki is through to the third round.

That first game was the preface to an epic, the overture to masterpiece. It is fair to say this match was played almost exclusively on Istomin's terms - he had points to win four of the five sets - and that Djokovic met them for a long time, but ultimately could not give all that Istomin asked. Read a little more coolly, outside the thrill of the contest itself, for Djokovic to be wrongfooted, outhit and ultimately lowered by so humble an opponent might represent the first intimation of the onset of decline. Instead of No.2 with a bullet, he might be No.2 taking a bullet. But let's not rush.

Ever classy, Djokovic concentrated on Istomin's due. "All I can say is hats down," he said. "I didn't really have a clear chance, to be honest. Wherever he needed, he came up with big serve, big play. He deserved to win."

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If Djokovic's life passed before his eyes, for Istomin, who sported the sort of goggles one might wear to play a virtual reality game, what passed before his eyes must have appeared as a fantasy. And then it was realised.

Istomin has never been higher than No.33, and is competing here as No.117. In five previous meetings with Djokovic, he had won one set. For scale's sake, know that Istomin is coached by his mother.

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Suddenly, though, history was bunkum, hierachy beside the point. From start to finish, Istomin hit hard, deep and on the spot, if censors will permit. It is not uncommon for a journeyman sometimes to play many levels above himself in this way. It is for him to sustain it. For Djokovic, nothing worked. Happenstance became problem, became conspiracy. Let cords, mishits, Hawkeye: all were against him. Mid-way through the first set, he was a break down and all out of challenges; everything was a challenge then. Unlike the ad, he was worried and he wasn't happy.

The first set lasted 85 minutes. For reference, Richard Gasquet had taken only 20 minutes longer to win an entire best-of-five match earlier in the day. Istomin won that set in a tiebreaker, and remained in his cosmic zone almost for the rest of the match. Periodically, it looked as if the old Djokovic, the deposed No.1, was about to shrug off his cloak. From a pair of set points down in the second, he won 12 of 14 points to win it, and duly the third. But these would prove this exceptional day's exceptions, not the re-established rule.

Merely to hold on, Djokovic sometimes had to play the sort of tennis that would have beaten Roger Federer, and has before on this court. That is how high Istomin dared to fly, in fact to levitate. That is how deep Djokovic had to reach. And still it wasn't enough.

If the good thing about Istomin was that he made Djokovic scramble, the good thing about Djokovic is that he likes to scramble, and is well practised at it, and at keeping his composure too, something that also came only with practice. But Istomin's whole career has been a scramble; this was scrambling's big day out. Somewhere in all this, there was a lesson for one Nick Kyrgios, about fighting spirit, and how much it outweighs snarly words. But he was probably off shooting hoops.

Through the fourth and fifth sets, Istomin continued to stretch Djokovic, from side to side and to the limit of his skill and resources, not to mention the credulity of the crowd. He was inspired. Still in the fifth set, he served as fast as in the first, and hit the lines just as often. On both sides of the net, the feet were heavy now, but light when they were needed.

All, not least Istomin, sweated on the last twist that never came. At last, the Uzbek consummated a lifetime of dreaming. Istomin was the man.

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