Agence France-Presse
Dubai, Feb 26: World No. 1 Novak Djokovic quit the Dubai Tennis Championships here Thursday night dropping the first set of his quarterfinal against Feliciano Lopez. The premature withdrawal ended Djokovic’s run of 17 successive ATP finals.
The top-seeded Serb lost the opener 3-6 during which he appeared to complain about a problem with his right eye. “It’s very sad when one of the greatest players ever has to retire from a match like that,” Lopez told reporters while adding that Djokovic had told him he was suffering from an eye infection.
At one point, Djokovic asked for the doctor to come on court, but refused the eye drops offered to him. He committed 18 unforced errors in the nine games played, offering his hand to his Spanish rival after just half an hour on court.
French Open champion Stan Wawrinka reached the semifinals where he will face brash Australian Nick Kyrgios for the first time since their infamous duel in Canada last year. Wawrinka saw off Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-5, 6-1.
Second seed Wawrinka had to break in the final game of the first set against Kohlschreiber after twice losing leads. He then took hold of the match to clinch a runaway victory with 27 winners and five breaks of serve.
“I wasn’t in the greatest shape in the first set,” Wawrinka said after the match. “But then in the second, I found my range and that helped. Overall, I would say it was a so-so performance.”
