Lajovic eliminated Djokovic at the Srpska Open

After Monte Carlo, Novak Djokovic was eliminated early in Banja Luka, with unlikely compatriot Dusan Lajovtis erasing three set points in the 2nd set tiebreak to prevail 6-4, 7-6(6)after 2 hours and 25 minutes of competition.

Djokovic was ineffective on his breaks as the Serb ended the match with just 1/16 break points (!) while Lajovic needed just two breaks to claim the biggest win of his career.

Lajovic found both breaks in the first set, the 32-year-old took a 2-1 lead, then made it 3-1 with a big hold (he erased 3 break points). Then another big hold followed from Lajovic, who erased 4 break points and retained the two-game lead (4-2).

Djokovic managed to break his compatriot’s serve in game 8 and equalized 4-4, but immediately after Lajovic found another break and made it 5-4 to close the set on serve, he saved 3 more Break points by Djokovic ended the first part of the game with 1/11 break points.

The second set was more even, with the two Serbs leading to the tiebreak. There, Djokovic took the lead on 4/1 and 6/3, hitting a triple set point. From that point on, however, Lajović won the last 5 points and with 8/6 reached the victory and the semifinals of the Banja Luka tournament.

There he meets his Serbian compatriot Miomir Kecsmanovic, who beat Jiri Lehetska in an hour and 34 minutes 7-5, 6-0.

In the other semi-final on Saturday, Monte Carlo champion Andrei Rublev prevailed against Damir Dzumhur from Bosnia 7-5, 6-3 and will play against Alex Molchan, who in turn cleared Laszlo Jere’s hurdle 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.

Source: tennis24