Novak Djokovic facing huge questions after shocking Italian Open defeat

Novak Djokovic’s troubled season hit another shocking low point as he was hammered by Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo at the Italian. 

Tabilo took full advantage of an error-strewn performance from world number one Djokovic to storm to a one-sided 6-2 6-3 victory in just 67 minutes.

Seeking the 1,100th win of his career, Djokovic committed 22 unforced errors, served five double faults and failed to create a single break point on his left-handed opponent’s serve.

The tone for the contest was set early on when Djokovic saved three break points in the opening game, two with aces and the third with a sublime drop shot from behind the baseline, only to serve a double fault after Tabilo created a fourth break point opportunity.

Two brilliant winners then gave Tabilo a second break for 3-0 and the 26-year-old showed no signs of nerves as he served out for the set with the minimum of fuss after just 31 minutes.

Fans expecting a determined response from Djokovic were in for a shock when he instead started the second set with consecutive double faults to lose his serve once more, the 24-time Grand Slam winner strangely rushing through his service games.

Tabilo continued to hold serve with ease and fittingly it was another Djokovic double fault on the first match point which sealed the biggest win of 29th seed’s career to date.

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“I came on court just looking around, just trying to soak it all in, trying to process everything and now I just can’t believe it. I’m trying to wake up right now,” Tabilo said in an on-court interview broadcast on Sky Sports.

“I was just trying to keep my nerves in, keep swinging. Obviously every time you feel you’re closer to the end your arm starts to get a little tighter so I was just trying to not think about it, take it point by point and it’s crazy. I can’t believe what just happened.”

Tablio’s joy was contrasted by the confusingly flat performance from a red-faced Djokovic, who struggled to give answers to the inevitable questions coming his way in his post match press conference.

He admitted the incident where he was hit on the head with a bottle after his opening match at the Italian Open may have affected him, with the dire performance a huge point of concern for a fading champion.

“Congratulations to my opponent,” stated Djokovic. “It’s the first time I faced him. Great player. Really quality player. All-around game.

“Yeah, I just wasn’t able to find any kind of good feelings on the court, to be honest, with striking the ball. Yeah, I was completely off.”

When asked about his instability on court, he admitted the bottle incident may have affected him more than he realised.

“Training was different,” he admitted. “I was going for kind of easy training yesterday. I didn’t feel anything, but I also didn’t feel the same.

“Today under high stress, it was quite bad – not in terms of pain, but in terms of this balance. Just no coordination. Completely different player from what it was two nights ago. 

“I don’t know. I have to do medical checkups and see what’s going on.”

Djokovic’s fourth defeat of 2024 was his most worrying yet, with previous defeats coming after battling displays.

There may be little doubt that his days of domination are coming to an end, but the scale of his dip in performance in Rome may suggest something more was affecting him.

What comes next will be fascinating as the French Open is just two weeks away and there is no doubt that Djokovic is heading to Roland Garros without the number of matches he would have been hoping for ahead of the second major of the year.