Novak Djokovic explains why he lost against world No 123 Luca Nardi
Novak Djokovic admits he had a “really bad day” at the office during his defeat to Luca Nardi at the Indian Wells Open although he also paid tribute to the world No 123 as he feels the youngster “deserved to win”.
Nardi caused one of the biggest upsets in recent tennis history as the lucky loser defeated his idol Djokovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 for the biggest win of his career, becoming the fourth lowest-ranked player to beat the world No 1 at an ATP Masters 1000 tournament.
Playing in his second match since losing in the semi-final of the Australian Open against Jannik Sinner, Djokovic was sluggish as the 20-year-old Italian made good use of his booming forehand to hit multiple winners.
Early on it looked like it would be a straightforward match for the 24-time Grand Slam winner as he broke in game five of the opening set and raced into a 2-0 lead in the second set, but Nardi stepped up as he broke back immediately and claimed a second break in game six.
The crucial break came in game six of the decider before Nardi got the job done on his first match point three games later to set up a fourth-round clash against Tommy Paul.
World No 1 Djokovic, who was playing at Indian Wells for the first time in five years, was perplexed by his own level, which was not up to its usual high standards.
“He really didn’t have anything to lose, so he played great. Deserved to win,” the Serbian said. “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.”
He added: “I made some really terrible unforced errors.
“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.”
The tennis great has played only two tournaments this year – the Australian Open and now Indian Wells – and remains without a trophy in 2024 with a 7-3 record.
Despite his defeat, he is assured of staying at No 1 in the ATP Rankings until at least April 15, which will take him to 420 weeks at No 1.
Djokovic will next be in action at the Miami Open, which gets underway next week.
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