2014 Australian Open: Defending Champions Novak Djokovic And Victoria Azarenka Eliminated

Defending champions, Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka, are eliminated from the 2014 Australian Open. Djokovic and Azarenka suffered defeats in their quarterfinals bouts against Stanislas Wawrinka and Agnieszka Radwanska, respectively.

Novak Djokovic vs. Stanislas Wawrinka

Djokovic lost to Wawrinka in their quarterfinals match on Tuesday. The match went on to a tie-break in the final set which paved the way for the Swiss' victory over the Serbian athlete. Wawrinka won with the final scores of 2-6 6-4 6-2 3-6 9-7.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia throws his racquet during his men's quarter-final tennis match against Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland at the Australian Open 2014 tennis tournament in Melbourne January 21, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Jason Reed

Fellow Swiss Athlete Roger Federer was quick to congratulate Wawrinka in his victory over the second-ranked athlete in the world.

"So deserving for Stan the man #nevergiveup #whatamatch #sohappy," Federer tweeted.

Djokovic's loss to Wawrinka was his first defeat in Melbourne since 2010. He was gracious enough to accept his loss but hinted that he was somewhat unhappy about how his relationship with newly hired coach was working out.

"It's the first official tournament for us," Djokovic said.

"I'm satisfied with things we've been talking about, working on, but of course, it's unfortunate that we've finished in the quarterfinals," he added.

Nonetheless, his failure to defend his title in the Grand Slam of the Asia-Pacific will not let him down. He said it is way too early in the 2014 season.

"It's the beginning of the season and we'll see what's coming next," Djokovic said.

Wawrinka, on the other hand, said he was confident even before he stepped on to the court to face Djokovic. "I came on the court tonight with a lot of confidence in myself," Wawrinka said. The Swiss athlete said he knew he had a chance to beat Djokovic as long as he plays his best game. He said Djokovic is a tough player to beat.

"I had to fight within myself to fight against him and try to keep my line during the game," Wawrinka said.

Wawrinka will face Tomas Berdych in the semifinals on Thursday.

Victoria Azarenka vs. Agnieska Radwanska

Fifth seed Agnieszka Radwanska has beaten two-time defending champion Victoria Azarenka in their quarterfinals match on Wednesday, 6-1 5-7 6-0. Now the top three seeds of the 2014 Australian Open have all been eliminated. Top-ranked Serena Williams and Russian Superstar Maria Sharapova have both been ousted prior to Azarenka's defeat to Radwanska.

Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland signs autographs after her women's singles quarter-final tennis match against Victoria Azarenka of Belarus at the Australian Open 2014 tennis tournament in Melbourne January 22, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Bobby Yip

Radwanska regarded her quarterfinals match against Azarenka as the best she ever had.

"I have played a couple of quarterfinals before and I said to myself 'I need to take one step forward and make the semi-final and final," Radwanska said. The 24-year-old Polish athlete added she was very happy to have finally done it.

When asked about her performance against Azarenka, she noted she just had to play her very best.

"I have lost so many times against her before and I knew she was a very great player," she said.

As for Azarenka, she added she lost her focus during the finishing point and Radwanska took advantage of it. "She was solid from the baseline, she came in where she needed to, she served well in the important moments," Azarenka added.

Radwanska will square off with Dominika Cibulkova in the semifinals on Thursday.

Djokovic and Azarenka's defeats early in the tournament caused a big upset to their fans and the fans of the Australian Open. But surely other players would be thankful that they didn't have to face these two of the greatest tennis athletes in the world in the first Grand Slam tournament of 2014.