Novak Djokovic makes wanted – and unwanted – history in shock Indian Wells defeat
Novak Djokovic’s recent woes continued as the Serbian was stunned by world No 85 Botic van de Zandschulp in his opening Indian Wells match.
An error-stricken performance saw Djokovic rally after dropping the opener only to fall by the wayside in a lopsided deciding set, with the Dutchman sealing a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 victory.
Victory saw van de Zandschulp continue an incredible run which has seen him beat Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal, and now Djokovic in the space of just over six months.
However, a disappointing loss for the Serbian has seen him hit some rather unfortunate milestones.
Lucky losers to beat Djokovic
Djokovic has been dominant against lower-ranked players across his career, and this is just the third time he has ever lost to a lucky loser.
All those defeats have come in the past five years, with the Serbian twice losing to Italians and twice at Indian Wells.
Djokovic’s first such defeat came at the Vienna Open back in 2020, with the top seed – then the world No 1 – stunned 6-2, 6-1 by Lorenzo Sonego in their quarter-final clash.
That was followed three and a half years later by his 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 loss to world N0 123 Luca Nardi in Indian Wells in 2024.
He has now followed that up with this latest defeat to van de Zandschulp, who had previously lost 7-5, 6-0 to Matteo Gigante in qualifying.
Unwanted Masters 1000 record
Djokovic has won a record 40 Masters 1000 titles, reached a record 59 finals at that level, and also holds a joint-record of five Indian Wells titles alongside Roger Federer.
However, the world No 7 is now in the Masters 1000 record books for an unwanted slice of event history.
Having lost to Nardi in 2024 and now van de Zandschulp in 2025, Djokovic is the first top-10 player since the Masters format was introduced in 1990 to lose to a lucky loser at the same Masters event two years in a row.
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Equals Nadal milestone
The manner of Djokovic’s defeat – and the records he has set in the process – do not make for pleasant reading from his perspective.
However, the former world No 1 has, thanks to his appearance on court, leveled with legendary rival Nadal in one impressive milestone.
Djokovic has now played a staggering 500 matches at Masters 1000 level, tying Nadal’s record for most appearances at that level.
Should the Serbian play at the Miami Open later this month as expected, he would break the Spaniard’s record.
Van de Zandschulp’s contribution to Dutch history
There has been so much focus on Djokovic, but van de Zandschulp’s win has also seen him contribute to a significant slice of Dutch tennis history.
His win was the second significant win for a Dutch player at this event, with Tallon Griekspoor having already stunned world No 2 and top seed Alexander Zverev on Friday.
Griekspoor and van de Zandschulp’s wins make this the first event this century where two Dutch players have picked up two top-10 wins at the same event – and the first such event since the 1998 Italian Open.
On that occasion, Richard Krajicek defeated Yevgeny Kafelnikov, while Sjeng Schalken defeated Pat Rafter.
