World No. 123 Luca Nardi in ‘miracle’ win

Novak Djokovic, for the second time this season, found himself frustrated and taken aback by his performance. His unexpected third-round loss to World No. 123 Luca Nardi at the BNP Paribas Open left him grappling for dominance.

Nardi, entering as a lucky loser, had nothing to lose and played aggressively, ultimately triumphing in three sets.

Reflecting on the match, Djokovic admitted, “He played great and deserved to win. However, I was more astonished by my own performance. It was really, really bad.” Djokovic attributed the outcome to a combination of Nardi’s exceptional performance and his own off day.

In essence, while Nardi shone brightly, Djokovic struggled under the weight of a disappointing result.

Luca Nardi is the lowest-ranked player to beat the world number one in a grand slam or ATP Masters 1000 level event

Novak Djokovic, who had not competed since his defeat to Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open semi-finals in January, made his return at Indian Wells. Despite scraping past Aleksandar Vukic in three sets in his opening match, the 36-year-old failed to find his rhythm against Nardi.

In their encounter, Djokovic managed just two winners in the decisive third set, compared to Nardi’s 16. Additionally, Djokovic won only 42% of his second-serve points (16/38).

“I helped him play well, and I didn’t help myself at all. I made some really terrible unforced errors. Just quite defensive tennis, and not much on the ball in the third and that’s it,” Djokovic said. “He just stepped in and he used the time that he had. He was playing more free and more aggressive than I did and going for his shots and that break on 3-2 in the third was enough.”