ANDSerbian Novak Djokovic, world number one, lost this Monday 6-4, 3-6 and 6-3 against the Italian Luca Nardi, 123rd in the ATP rankings and lucky loser, and said goodbye to the Indian Wells Masters 1,000 in the third round.
Djokovic, a five-time champion in Indian Wells, fell against a 20-year-old Nardi, who had only won three matches in his young career on the ATP circuit.
Nardi is the fourth lowest ranked player to beat the world number one. The absolute record is held by the Spanish Francisco Clavet, who beat the then number one, the Australian Lleyton Hewitt, in Miami 2003.
The Italian had lost in the second round of qualifications against the Belgian David Goffin, but entered the main draw as a 'lucky loser', advancing directly to the second round, in which he beat the Chinese Zhizhhen Zhang.
And this Monday, on the center court of Indian Wells, he gave the bell against the world number one, a Djokovic who returned to Indian Wells after five years of absence and who had been champion five times.
He missed the previous editions due to the coronavirus pandemic and later not complying with the vaccination requirements.
He had reappeared on Saturday with a harder-than-expected victory against the Australian Aleksandar Vukic, when he lost the second set and ended up winning 6-2, 5-7 and 6-2 to add the 400th victory of his career in a Masters. 1,000.
This was Djokovic's defeat in Indian Wells
He had an appointment in the very accessible role, but he came across a Nardi who managed to compete without worries and who played tennis at a very high level in front of one of his idols.
But Djokovic, despite losing the first set, had put the match downhill again after tying at 6-2 in the second. He had to work at the start, but broke in the fifth game and forced his way to equalize.
He had regained momentum and had put pressure on an opponent who only had fifteen matches of experience on the ATP circuit.
However, on the track the Italian remained very focused and did not give in to the tension. What's more, he hit up to twelve winners in the opening of the final set and only allowed two to Djokovic.
The Serb annulled three break points in the second game, but gave up serve in the sixth, when Nardi took the lead 0-40 and completed the break at 15-40 to escape 4-2.
He had the mental strength to consolidate it, despite facing a 0-30 in the following game, and sealed the most important victory of his career by a definitive 6-3. He dropped his racket to the floor and walked to the net to shake hands with Djokovic, who congratulated him on the Italian victory.
The Serbian also reproached him for his behavior in the last game, apparently in an unforced error. “Non era giusto” (It was not correct), he told her in Italian, before reiterating her congratulations.
With this victory, Nardi will enter the first hundred positions in the world ranking next Monday.
The Italian will play in the round of 16 against the American Tommy Paul, number 19, who beat Frenchman Ugo Humbert this Monday.
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With Efe
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