World No. 1 Novak Djokovic quit the Dubai Tennis Championships after dropping the first set of his quarterfinal against Feliciano Lopez Thursday, ending his streak of 17 successive finals. The top-seeded Serb lost the opening set 6-3 during which he appeared to complain about a problem with his right eye. The retirement represents the first time he has failed to make a final since Doha in January 2015. "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 had suffered an eye infection. Earlier, French Open champion Stan Wawrinka reached the semifinals where he will face brash Australian Nick Kyrgios in their first meeting since their infamous duel in Canada last year. Wawrinka saw off Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-5, 6-1, while Kyrgios stunned third-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-4. When the pair met in Montreal last August, Kyrgios was widely lambasted for making crude remarks on-court concerning Wawrinka's friend, a Croatian WTA professional. Kyrgios was handed a suspended 28-day ban and $25,000 fine. But the Australian insisted Thursday there won't be a problem when he faces second-seeded Wawrinka Friday. "Since the incident, I think we've both moved on from it," said the 20-year-old. "We played on the same team in IPTL (International Premier Tennis League). That was actually really good. I got to know him a little bit more. He played great there. "He's one of the best players in the world, no doubt. He's playing great tennis." Marcos Baghdatis returned to the semifinals here after a six-year pause as he knocked out fourth seed Roberto Bautista Agut 7-5, 6-0. The first set was a 67-minute struggle while the popular Cypriot broke it open in the second to send the Spaniard out. Baghdatis overcame four double-faults in the eighth game of the first set to suddenly turn his momentum. Nishikori knocked out Kei Nishikori, who was coming off a title run at Memphis less than two weeks ago, bombed out of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, losing 6-4, 6-3 to Sam Querrey Wednesday. Querrey advances to his third straight ATP Tour quarterfinal where he will face American teenager Taylor Fritz. It is the first time in four tournaments this season that Japan's Nishikori has not reached at least the quarterfinals. "It's always hard when you play against good players, but it wasn't my day today," the second seeded Nishikori said. "There were many things that I should do better, especially my serve. "I wasn't aggressive enough to beat Sam today. Also he was hitting really big serves so there weren't many chances for my return game." Nishikori's ouster means the tournament is without its top two seeds after David Ferrer's earlier loss to Alexandr Dolgopolov. Azarenka pulls out of Acapulco Top-seeded Victoria Azarenka pulled out of the Mexico Open in Acapulco Wednesday with a left wrist injury, sending Dominika Cibulkova into the third round. Azarenka was playing her first event since falling in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open to eventual champion Angelique Kerber. The former world No. 1 from Belarus, now ranked 14th in the world, had needed two hours to beat Slovenia's Polona Hercog in three sets in the first-round Tuesday. Wednesday's withdrawal from the ATP and WTA hardcourt tournament was another setback for a player who displayed strong form early in 2016, having apparently moved on from the injuries and personal issues that hampered her career over the past two years. Slovakia's Cibulkova next faces either Sweden's Johanna Larsson, the sixth seed, or American Shelby Rogers. — Agencies
