The men’s draw at Indian Wells has opened up following the shock departure of Novak Djokovic.
The world No.1 suffered a stunning 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, defeat to Luca Nardi who originally lost in the qualifying rounds before being awarded a lucky loser spot. Playing in his first tournament since January, the top seed was overwhelmed by the underdog who hit twice as many winners as him (34 to 17). He also struggled behind his serve, winning just 42% of his second service points and getting broken three times.
The defeat is a bitter blow to Djokovic who was playing in the tournament for the first time since 2019. He has been forced to miss recent editions of the Masters 1000 event due to the COVID-19 pandemic and America’s travel restrictions on unvaccinated visitors entering the country.
“He really didn’t have anything to lose, so he played great. Deserved to win,” he said afterwards.
“I was more surprised with my level. My level was really, really bad.
“These two things come together. He’s having a great day, I’m having a really bad day.”
20-year-old Nardi has become the lowest-ranked player to have ever beaten Djokovic at a Masters 1000 or Grand Slam event. Even more remarkable is that he hadn’t beaten a top 50 player on the Tour in his career until Indian Wells this year.
“I made some really terrible unforced errors,” Djokovic admits.
“Just quite defensive tennis and not much on the ball in the third, and that’s it. He just stepped in and he used the time that he had.
“He was playing more free and more aggressive than I did, and going for his shots and that break on 3-2 in the third was enough.”
Nardi is only the third lucky loser to beat a world No.1 player at a Masters 1000 event since the category was introduced in 1990. The first two to do so were Guillermo Canas in 2007 and Borna Coric in 2017.
“I don’t know [how I held my nerve]. I think it is a miracle, because I am a 20-year-old guy, 100 in the world, and beating Novak. It’s crazy,” the Italian commented.
Nardi will take on Tommy Paul in the next round. The American beat Ugo Humbert 6-4, 6-4.
As for Djokovic, who is yet to win a title this season, he is scheduled to next play at the Miami Open, which will start later this month. Although the Serbian told reporters on Monday that he will ‘take a day or two’ to consider what to do next.
