Novak Djokovic says he has no excuses for his ‘poor performance’ after suffering a surprise defeat at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Saturday.
The five-time champion was beaten 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, by Dutch lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp, who closed the match by winning five games in a row. Djokovic hit a costly 37 unforced errors, which was more than twice the amount of winners he produced. He also struggled behind his second serve where he won just seven out of 24 points played. It is the third time the Serbian has failed to win a match at the tournament after 2006 and 2018.
Against world No.85 Zandschulp, Djokovic struggled with the windy conditions and later said the conditions on Center Court were significantly different from other courts at the event. When asked by the media if he was also struggling with a stomach problem, he was reluctant to speak about any potential issue.
“It’s always something happening, but I don’t want to talk about it,” said Djokovic.
“Obviously no excuses for a poor performance. It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court, but congratulations to my opponent. Just a bad day in the office for me.
“I regret the level of tennis, considering how I practice these days. To be honest, the difference between the center court and the other courts is immense. The ball is bouncing on the center courts higher than some of the highest clay courts, to be honest. I struggled a lot with that.”
Djokovic has now suffered three straight defeats on the Tour which is something that had only happened once before since the start of the 2008 season. Last month he was knocked out of the Qatar Open by Matteo Berrettini.
As for Indian Wells specifically, the 37-year-old has failed to win back-to-back matches at the Masters 1000 event in his fourth most recent appearances (2018, 2019, 2024 and 2025).
“You know, things are different obviously for me the last couple of years,” Djokovic explained. “I’ve been struggling to play on the desired level. Every now and then, I have couple good tournaments, but, you know, mostly it’s really a challenge. It’s a struggle for me.
“So it is what it is. I guess nothing can prepare you for that moment, in a sense. You have to experience it and try to deal with it in the best possible way.”
Djokovic will be hoping to end his losing run at the Miami Open which will take place later this month. He is the fourth top 10 seed to lose in the second round at Indian Wells this year after Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev.
