Djokovic in shock loss at Barcelona Open

Apr 26, 2018 06:00 am

Novak Djokovic suffered a surprise defeat in his latest comeback from injury after the Serb was beaten by Martin Klizan in his first match at tennis' Barcelona Open yesterday.

Djokovic had been due to meet Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals in Spain but a disjointed display gave Klizan, ranked 140th in the world, a 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 victory.

While Klizan goes through to meet Spanish clay-court specialist Feliciano Lopez in the last 16, Djokovic will now have to reset, with next month's French Open fast approaching.

Meanwhile, in Stuttgart, Germany, Maria Sharapova crashed out in the opening round of the Stuttgart Grand Prix on Tuesday as French sixth seed Caroline Garcia staged a fightback to win 3-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-4.

"This was not the result that I wanted, but I can take a lot out of this match," Sharapova said. "I've not competed for a few weeks, but I played pretty solid and did all of the right things." - AFP