Novak Djokovic, who was seen as the top favorite to win the trophy at Indian Wells 2024, failed to live up to fans’ expectations and the world No. 1 surprisingly lost to lucky loser ATP No. 123 Luca Nardi, 6-4, 3-6. , 6 -3.

Djokovic says he has been in a bad cycle for several tournaments

At the age of 36, Nole spoke clearly in a press conference about that defeat, as well as the less glamorous period he was going through.

“Well done to him, especially in the third set he played very good tennis. I didn’t know him well, but I watched some videos and saw that he has quality tennis,” he said at first Joker about his opponent on Tuesday.

“I was very surprised at my level, very bad. For me, this is a negative result. I helped him play well, I made terrible unforced errors, I played defensive tennis, I hit the ball badly in the third set. He was more aggressive than me.

I’m in a negative cycle of three or four tournaments where I haven’t played at my best level.

I play less tournaments, I’m more selective, so it’s not good to lose so early. I haven’t won a title this year yet, I’m not used to it, but that’s it, I’ll move on to something else,” he added Novak Djokovic.

The result of the Nardi – Djokovic match

Know:

• This is the first defeat in Nole’s career against a lucky loser, the Italian managed to reach the 1/8 finals of the Masters tournament (ATP 1000) for the first time.

• Luca Nardi is the lowest ATP ranked player (No. 123) to beat Djokovic at a Masters or Grand Slam since 2008.

• The Italian became only the fourth lowest-ranked player in the world to beat the world number one at the Masters.

• The others were Francisco Clavet (178th against Lleyton Hewitt), Thanasi Kokkinakis (175th against Roger Federer) and Vasek Pospishil (129th against Andy Murray).

• In the eighth round, Luca Nardi will meet Tommy Paul, the 17th-seeded American in the Californian desert.

About Novak Djokovic’s participation in Indian Wells

• The success with Aleksandar Vukic in the previous round was special for Nole: it was the 400th victory in his career at the Masters category tournaments (ATP 1000) – a record.

• Joker holds the record for consecutive wins at Indian Wells: 20 from 2014 to 2017.

• Novak has 5 titles in Indian Wells, a record he shares with Roger Federer. The Serb lifted the trophy in 2008, 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2016.

• Novak leads the hierarchy of Masters titles won over time: 39 trophies. He is followed by Rafael Nadal (36) and Roger Federer (28 – retired from tennis).