History-maker Luca Nardi opens up about his ‘miracle’ after sensational win over Novak Djokovic
Luca Nardi joked that “no one knew him” a day before he took on Novak Djokovic at the Indian Wells Open, but he is now the talk of the tennis world after his stunning win over the 24-time Grand Slam winner.
The 20-year-old came into the tournament without an ATP Tour-level win to his name in 2024 while he was 3-12 overall in his career, but he kicked off the event with his a first top-50 win when he defeated Zhizhen Zhang.
And then he followed it up with a sensational 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over the world No 1 Djokovic in the third of the ATP Masters 1000 event.
What made his victory even sweeter was the fact that he has become the first lucky loser to defeat the great Djokovic.
The Italian lost in the second round of qualifiers against David Goffin, but then got into the main draw when 30th seed Tomas Etcheverry withdrew from the event and it meant he had a bye into the second round.
Ranked No 123 in the world, Nardi is also the first player outside the top 50 to defeat Djokovic since the Serbian lost to No 109 Taro Daniel in 2018 and he is also the lowest-ranked player to beat Djokovic at a Masters event or a Grand Slam.
He has well and truly made a name for himself with one big win, telling the Tennis Garden crowd: “I’m speechless. What can I say? Yesterday night I was dreaming about it, I was speaking with the coaches and dreaming about – now it’s real!”
The Italian added: “I think that before this night no one knew me. I hope that the crowd enjoyed the game. I’m super happy with this one.”
READ MORE: Who is Luca Nardi? Meet the Novak Djokovic super fan playing his idol at Indian Wells
Naturally, there were some nerves before he served out the match, but it was an incredible effort for a 20-year-old player taking on the world No 1.
“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,” he said.
And of course he has been inspired by his compatriot Jannik Sinner’s incredible form.
Sinner is on a 17-0 unbeaten streak with 14 of those wins coming in 2024 as he won the Australian Open and the Rotterdam Open.
“For sure I’m watching Jannik winning all the matches,” Nardi, who faces 14th seed Tommy Paul in the fourth round, said. “For sure it’s something that pushed me to be better. I didn’t expect to win today, but I always try to do my best in practice, and this happened and I’m really happy.”
READ MORE: Novak Djokovic explains why he lost against world No 123 Luca Nardi
