Alex de Minaur ends Novak Djokovic’s 43-match winning run in Australia

Djokovic was hampered by a wrist problem as he went down 6-4, 6-4.

A trainer massages the right arm of Novak Djokovic.

Novak Djokovic slumped to his first defeat of the season and first in Australia for six years with a stunning 6-4, 6-4 loss to Alex de Minaur who gave Australia a 1-0 lead over Serbia in their United Cup quarter-final on Wednesday.

Djokovic was hampered by a right wrist problem in Serbia’s victory over Czech Republic on Tuesday and the world No 1 had it worked on again by a trainer before De Minaur earned a late break and went on to clinch the opening set. The Australian Open champion dropped serve yet again to hand De Minaur a 4-3 advantage in the second set and saved three match points later, but was unable to prevent the shock loss before the year’s first grand slam this month.