Top 5 upsets of 2018 in men's tennis

The 2018 tennis season was action-packed with some great performances throughout the year. While Alexander Zverev came out on top in the World Tour Finals, it was his opponent Novak Djokovic who ended the year as the world no. 1.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal too had a great season, winning the Australian Open and French Open respectively.

However, along the way, there were times when things did not go according to plan, with a few lower ranked players defying the odds to come out on top against much higher ranked opponents.

There were plenty of upsets this year, a lot of which happened in the first half of the season.

In this article, we take a look at the top 5 upsets of the men's tennis season in 2018:

Special mentions:

Taro Daniel def. Novak Djokovic - Miami Masters Round of 64

Borna Coric def. Roger Federer - Halle Final

Guido Pella def. Marin Cilic- Wimbledon Round 2

Marius Copil def. Alexander Zverev - Basel Semifinals

#5 Hyeon Chung vs Novak Djokovic - Australian Open Fourth Round

Novak Djokovic was coming off a six-month injury layoff and was looking to get back into his groove. He came out victorious in the first three rounds but was not looking his best.

He was up against Korean youngster Hyeon Chung in the fourth round and was expected to come out victorious against the then 21-year-old.

However, Chung stunned Djokovic in straight sets to qualify for the next round and send the Serb packing. Djokovic might not have been on top of his game but Chung played some exceptional tennis to knock him out.

He went on to defeat Tennys Sandgren in the quarters but had to retire mid-match against Federer in the semis due to blisters.

Result: Hyeon Chung def. Novak Djokovic 7-6, 7-5, 7-6

#4 Kevin Anderson vs Roger Federer - Wimbledon Quarterfinals

Day Nine: The Championships - Wimbledon 2018

On paper, Kevin Anderson defeating Roger Federer might not be a huge upset like the way the others on this list are. However, it was the occasion and the nature in which Anderson fought and won the match that was quite shocking.

Federer was two sets up to love and held a match point only to see Anderson produce one of the best ever comebacks to send Federer packing. And, what made it even more shocking for Federer and his fans was that it happened at Wimbledon!

Result: Kevin Anderson def. Roger Federer 2-6, 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-4, 13-11

#3 Marco Cecchinato vs Novak Djokovic - French Open Quarterfinals

Marco Cecchinato had never won a Grand Slam match before the French Open. Despite that, he became the first Italian man in 40 years to reach a Grand Slam semifinal. And in order to get there, he upset Novak Djokovic, who was still on his comeback trail, in four sets.

Cecchinato won the first two sets but Djokovic fought back in the third to win it 6-1. He was up 5-2 in the fourth set but lost his serve and then went on to lose the tie-breaker as well to send the stadium into shock.

Cecchinato qualified for the semis but went on to lose to Dominic Thiem.

Result: Marco Cecchinato def. Novak Djokovic 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 1-6, 7-6 (13/11)

#2 Thanasi Kokkinakis vs Roger Federer - Miami Masters Round of 64

Miami Open 2018 - Day 6

Roger Federer began the year in brilliant fashion, winning the Australian Open and the Rotterdam title to get to the world no.1 position. His 17-match win streak was snapped by Juan Martin del Potro in the Indian Wells Final just a few days before his first match of the Miami Masters.

He had to dig deep in Miami as well in order to keep his no. 1 ranking but to everyone's shock, he was upset by world no. 175 Thanasi Kokkinakis in the round of 64. He was not on top of his game and looked quite unfit as well but Kokkinakis played some great tennis to knock him out. He lost the world no.1 ranking in the process as well.

Result: Thanasi Kokkinakis def. Roger Federer 3-6, 6-3, 7-6

#1 John Millman vs Roger Federer - US Open Fourth Round

2018 US Open - Day 8

Federer had just come off an exceptional 3rd round encounter against Nick Kyrgios, which he won in straight sets. He was expected to produce a similar performance in the fourth round against John Millman as well, who was ranked outside the top 50.

He won the first set with relative ease and was up a break in the second set as well. However, what happened from there was quite unbelievable. He lost his serve and the set and then went on to lose the next two sets as well in tie-breaks, thus giving the match to Millman.

His game was riddled with unforced errors and his serve was extremely poor after the first set, with as many as 10 double-faults to his name. In the post-match press conference, he spoke about how the heat had affected him and how he wasn't able to breathe properly.

Result: John Millman def. Roger Federer 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(7), 7-6(3)