Novak Djokovic stays in 'negative cycle' as he is stunned by Luca Nardi in third round at Indian Wells

ByJames Walker-Roberts

Updated 12/03/2024 at 13:11 GMT

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic saw his Indian Wells return ended after just two matches. Playing the tournament for the first time since 2019, Djokovic was beaten in the second round by world No. 123 Luca Nardi. "Very poor performance from my side," said Djokovic, who is yet to win a title this season. Nardi is the lowest-ranked player to beat Djokovic at Masters 1000 or Grand Slam level.

Novak Djokovic suffered a shock third-round loss at Indian Wells as he was beaten by lucky loser Luca Nardi.

Nardi, 20, hit 16 winners in the final set against just two from Djokovic as he won 6-4 3-6 6-3.

At No. 123 in the world rankings, Nardi is the lowest-ranked player to beat world No. 1 Djokovic at Masters 1000 or Grand Slam level.

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“I could have done everything differently,” said Djokovic.

“Very poor performance from my side, and no titles this year, that’s not something I’m used to. I was starting the season most of my career with a Grand Slam win or Dubai win or any other tournament.

“But it’s fine, it’s part of the sport and you just have to accept it. Some you win, some you lose. Hopefully, I will win some more. I’ll still keep going.

“I guess every trophy that eventually comes my way is going to be great, obviously to break the negative cycle a little bit that I’m having the last three to four tournaments where I haven’t been close to my best.”

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Djokovic has now suffered three defeats this season to Nardi, Alex de Minaur at the United Cup and Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open semi-finals.

He will next head to the ATP 1000 Miami Open.

Nardi will face Tommy Paul in the fourth round after recording the biggest win of his career.

The Italian didn’t back down in the deciding set against Djokovic as he continued to play aggressively and go for his shots.

'It's a miracle' - Nardi reacts after knocking out Djokovic in massive upset

He missed three chances to break in the second game but then took his next opportunity to open up a 4-2 lead.

Djokovic could not get back into the match as Nardi closed out a “miracle win”.

"I think that before this night no one knew me," said Nardi after just his fifth tour-level win.

"I hope that the crowd enjoyed the game. I'm super happy with this one.

"I think it is a miracle, because I am a 20-year-old guy, 100 in the world, and beating Novak. It's crazy.”

Fourth seed Daniil Medvedev beat Sebastian Korda in a match that featured 16 breaks of serve.

Medvedev, who had 22 break points, won 6-4 5-7 6-3 to set up a fourth-round clash with 13th seed Grigor Dimitrov.

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