DOHA — World No. 1 Novak Djokovic was buried by 21 aces as big-serving Croatian Ivo Karlovic clinched a 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 victory to reach the Qatar Open semifinals Thursday. Top seed Djokovic joined second seeded Rafael Nadal on the sidelines in Doha after the Spanish star lost in the first round.
Karlovic, the 35-year-old world No. 27, claimed his second career win over the world No. 1 having also triumphed at the Madrid Masters in 2008. In the semifinals, he will play David Ferrer, who beat Dustin Brown of Germany 6-2, 6-2.
Federer survives scare
In Brisbane, Swiss tennis star Roger Federer won his 997th match on the ATP Tour Thursday, but not before surviving a scare from Australian wildcard John Millman at the Brisbane International.
Playing his first match of the year after receiving a first round bye, world No. 2 Federer had to come from a set and a break down to overhaul Millman 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in just over two hours.
Federer was out of sorts throughout the match against a player ranked 151 places below him, making 38 unforced errors — most of them in the opening set-and-a-half.
Federer now plays another Australian wildcard, James Duckworth, in the quarterfinals following his 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 win over Finland's Jarkko Nieminen.
Third-seeded Milos Raonic had 17 aces and didn't face a break point in a 6-3, 6-4 win over Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan to set up a quarterfinal match against Sam Groth of Australia, who beat Lukasz Kubot of Poland 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-6, (3). Australian wild-card entry James Duckworth advanced with a 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 win over Jarkko Nieminen and could meet top-seeded Roger Federer in the next round.
On the women's side, Maria Sharapova moved into the Brisbane International semifinals with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Carla Suarez Navarro, weathering a challenging opening few games before taking the momentum away from her Spanish rival.
Sharapova next faces Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, who came from a set and a break down to beat third-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. Second-seeded Ana Ivanovic struggled early in her 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, losing the first five games before settling into the match.
There were seven breaks of serve in the second set before Kanepi double-faulted on set point — one of her 10 double-faults in the match. Ivanovic's semifinal match will be against Varvara Lepchenko of the US, who had a 7-5, 7-5 win over Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia.
In Perth, the United States pairing of Serena Williams and John Isner snuck into the Hopman Cup final with a 3-0 win over the Czech Republic in Perth. Its opponent will not be known until after Friday's final round robin ties in Group B. Earlier, Canada bowed out of contention despite a 2-1 win over Italy.
In quarterfinals at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki beat Julia Goerges of Germany 6-4, 6-4 and third-seeded Venus Williams had a 6-2, 6-4 win over Elena Vesnina.
Wozniacki's semifinal opponent will be fourth-seeded Barbora Zhalavova Strycova of the Czech Republic, a 6-4, 7-5 winner over seventh-seeded Coco Vandeweghe.
Williams will next meet unseeded Lauren Davis of the US, who beat Polish qualifier Urzsula Radwanska 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.
Qualifier KO's Lopez
In Chennai, Spanish second seed Feliciano Lopez crashed out of the $450,000 ATP Chennai Open Thursday in a stunning second-round loss to qualifier Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia.
The world No. 14 looked rusty in his first match of the season as he tamely went down 6-4, 6-4 to the 156th-ranked Bedene in an hour and 25 minutes at the Nungambakkam tennis stadium.
Two other Spaniards, third seed Roberto Bautista-Agut and number five Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, advanced to the quarterfinals.
The 15th-ranked Bautista-Agut proved too strong for number 102 Peter Gojowczyk of Germany, cruising to a 6-3, 6-2 win in an hour and 10 minutes.
Bautista-Agut struggled with his first serve and double-faulted four times, but six aces and strong volleys from the baseline helped him dominate the German. — Agencies
