Djokovic eliminated by Dimitrov at Madrid Masters

MADRID: World No.1 Novak Djokovic was knocked out in the second round of the Madrid Open on Tuesday night as 21-year-old Grigor Dimitrov produced the performance of his career to date to win 7-6 (8/6), 6-7 (8/10), 6-3 in just over three hours.

Dimitrov took the first set in controversial circumstances as he benefited from an overrule when serving set-point down at 4-5 before eventually taking it on a tie-break.

The Bulgarian then fluffed a match point as the second set also went all the way to a tie-break, but regained his composure to break the Serb twice in the final set to seal it 6-3.

Djokovic had been heavily fancied to repeat his 2011 triumph in the Spanish capital after ending Rafael Nadal's eight-year reign on the clay of Monte Carlo a fortnight ago.

However, the Australian Open champion was troubled throughout by Dimitrov's powerful ground strokes in a match filled with controversy.
(AFP)