Australian Open 2018: Day 8 round-up

Huge upsets in the men's competition

Chung upset Djokovic

In the upset of the day, NextGen player Hyeon Chung beat 6-time champion Novak Djokovic in three hard-fought sets, 7-6(4) 7-5 7-6(3). Prior to this match, only Marat Safin and Roger Federer have ever beaten the Djoker in straight sets at the Australian Open.

Chung played exceptional tennis, making Djokovic run from side-to-side, forcing the Serbian to display his trademark defense and great court coverage. However, Djokovic was not his dominant self and appeared to be hampered by his recovering elbow injury.

He seemed to be in pain on some shots and required treatment on his elbow as well as his foot throughout the match. Chung, on the other hand, raced to a 4-0 lead in the first, a 4-1 lead in the second, and a 3-0 lead in the third set before Nole battled back.

Nevertheless, the Korean was dominant in the latter part of the sets, aswell as the tiebreakers. Djokovic made an uncharacteristic 57 unforced errors, while Chung was able to save 14 of 19 break points.

In another huge upset, Tennys Sandgren beat fifth seed Dominic Thiem in a marathon five-set match 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-7(7), 6-3. Sandgren had never won a grand slam match before the Australian Open and now becomes the second man after Alexandr Dolgopolov in 2011 to reach the quarter-finals on debut.

Sandgren will now take on Chung for a spot in the semi-finals, as both players are going to be competing in their maiden Grand Slam quarter-final.