‘There was certainly something wrong with Novak Djokovic at the Monte Carlo Masters’

Ewan West 11 Apr 2025 10:15 AM

Novak Djokovic gestures during the Monte Carlo Masters.

Former Australian Open finalist Arnaud Clement has asserted that Novak Djokovic was not “happy” or “fulfilled” on court during his defeat at the 2025 Monte Carlo Masters.

Djokovic fell to a surprisingly convincing 3-6, 4-6 loss to world No 32 Alejandro Tabilo on Court Rainier III in the second round of the prestigious clay-court tournament.

The 24-time Grand Slam winner, who hit 29 unforced errors and struggled badly despite breaking serve in the opening game, was damning in his appraisal of his performance.

“It was actually more like the worst day. Look, I was hoping this is not going to happen, but it was quite a high probability I’m going to play this way,” he told reporters.

“I don’t know, just horrible. Horrible feeling to play this way and I’m just sorry for all the people that have to witness this.”

The world No 5 added: “I expected myself at least to have put a decent performance. Not like this, I mean this is horrible.

“I did not have high expectations, really. I knew I’m gonna have a tough opponent, and I knew I’m gonna probably play pretty bad. But this bad… I didn’t expect.”

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Asked if he had an explanation for what happened, Djokovic replied: “I don’t know. I don’t have it. I have it and I don’t have it. I don’t really care.”

Speaking to Eurosport France, Clement was critical of Djokovic’s attitude as he assessed what went wrong for the tennis great.

“The shock, ultimately, is more the manner and the attitude than the elimination itself,” (translated from French) said the former world No 10.

“It’s true that we didn’t feel he was happy on the court, we didn’t feel he was fulfilled. Did he want to? We don’t know. Did he have a problem? We don’t know. But there was certainly something wrong with Novak Djokovic today.

“And it wasn’t simply the fact that his tennis wasn’t in place. He didn’t give the impression, as can often be the case with him when things aren’t going well, of finding solutions and resources.”

Djokovic entered the clay season in positive form, having been a runner-up at the Miami Open in his previous tournament.

The 37-year-old Serbian will next feature at the Madrid Open, a Masters 1000 event he last played in 2022.