Novak Djokovic suffered his heaviest ever defeat in a
three-set match on Friday when he was knocked out of the Vienna ATP tournament
by lucky loser Lorenzo Sonego, stalling his bid to wrap up the year-end world
number one ranking for a sixth time.

Italian Sonego, ranked 42 and who had initially lost in
qualifying last weekend, is the first lucky loser ever to beat Djokovic.

His 6-2, 6-1 quarter-final stunner was 33-year-old Djokovic’s
heaviest ever defeat.

The only other time the Serb had won just three games was at
the 2005 Australian Open at the hands of Marat Safin in a best-of-five-set
encounter.

“He just blew me off the court, that’s all,”
Djokovic told atptour.com.

“He was better in every segment of the game. It was a
pretty bad match from my side, but amazing from his side.

“He definitely deserved this result,” added the
Serb star who was playing his first tournament since his Roland Garros final
defeat to Rafael Nadal three weeks ago.

Friday’s defeat means Djokovic will have to wait a little
longer before he completes the formality of equalling Pete Sampras’s all-time
record of ending the season top of the rankings for a sixth time.

“For sure it’s the best victory of my life. Novak is
the best in the world. Today I played so, so good,” Sonego said.

“It’s unbelievable. It’s amazing. I played the best
match in my life. I’m so happy for this.”

Sonego fired 26 winners past the Serb who lost for only the
third time in 2020.

Djokovic, a 17-time major champion, managed just seven
winners against 25 unforced errors.

Sonego goes on to face either Britain’s Dan Evans or Grigor
Dimitrov of Bulgaria for a place in the final.

Second seed and defending champion Dominic Thiem also lost
Friday, going down 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 to Russian world number eight Andrey Rublev.

Rublev hit 30 winners past the US Open champion and goes on
to face South Africa’s Kevin Anderson for a place in the final.

“I came here with the mood that I have nothing to
lose,” said Rublev who is chasing a fifth title of the year.

“I had already a really great season. I came here with
zero expectations, just wanting to do my best. To try to fight every match. At
the end, I am here in the semi-finals.”

Anderson made the semi-finals by accounting for Russian
fourth seed Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 7-6 (7/5).

It was 2018 champion Anderson’s first top 10 win in two
years.