Kyle Edmund caused a major upset in the second round of the Madrid Open.
Having never taken a set off Novak Djokovic (10) in three previous meetings, his chances of victory were not rated high, especially given the surface, and the fact that Novak is a two time champion here. However, Djokovic is still struggling to find his true form since coming back from injury and Edmund seized on the Serb fragility in the opening set, breaking serve in the fifth and ninth games, to take the set 6-3.
Djokovic stormed back in set two, demoralising Edmund with a range of winning ground strokes, and two service breaks helped the tenth seed even things at a set apiece.
Most pundits expected Djokovic to run to the finish, but it was Edmund who stood tall. Djokovic wasted three break chances in the fifth game of the decider, and it was a loose forehand that saw him drop serve in the eighth game.
Edmund served out the match 6-3 2-6 6-3 to earn a spot in the third round.
Joining Edmund in the round of sixteen include:
Rafa Nadal (1), Diego Schwartzman (13), Borna Coric, Dominic Thiem (5), Philipp Kohlschreiber, Kevin Anderson (6), David Goffin (8), John Isner (7), Pablo Cuevas, Leonardo Mayer and Sascha Zverev (2).
Garbine Muguruza (3) was the biggest name of the womens seeds to lose their third round matches, Daria Kasatkina (14) prevailing for the second time in 2018, her other victory over the Spaniard coming in Dubai.
Down 4-2 in set two, Muguruza rattled off four games to level at a set apiece.
Again down in the decider, Garbine dug deep to revive her chances, moving from 1-4 to 3-4.
Kasatkina steadied though, breaking for 5-3, and saved break chances on the way to a 6-2 4-6 6-4 triumph.
She will play Petra Kvitova (10) in the quarter finals
Other quarter finals will be:
Simona Halep (1) v Karolina Pliskova (6)
Caroline Garcia (7) v Carla Suárez Navarro
Maria Sharapova v Kiki Bertens
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