Djokovic in shock loss

World number one Novak Djokovic suffered a surprise quarter-final exit at the Mutua Madrid Open last night — and then joined Rafael Nadal in questioning the blue clay court.

The Serbian was undone by fellow countryman Janko Tipsarevic, who racked up 30 winners on his way to an unexpected 7-6 (7/2) 6-3 victory.

Djokovic has struggled against Tipsarevic in the past — he lost to him in London last November – and yesterday was no different, with the game’s leading player committing 20 unforced errors on his way to a fourth loss of the year.

Tipsarevic’s reward, if it can be classed as that, is a last-four meeting with Roger Federer. He saw off David Ferrer 6-4 6-4.

The other semi-final pits Tomas Berdych against Juan Martin Del Potro. Berdych powered to an impressive 6-1 6-2 win over hometown hero Fernando Verdasco — Nadal’s conqueror — who was unable to deal with the Czech’s sheer power and crashed to defeat in little over an hour.

Del Potro had earlier eased to a 6-3 6-4 victory over Alexandr Dolgopolov.