Novak Djokovic suffered a humiliating defeat at Indian Wells for the second consecutive year, eliminated by the world number of 85 Van de Zandschulp.
In 2024, the Grand Serb lost against Lucky Loser Luca Nardi and once again, he fell into the hands of a player who had another chance after losing in qualification.
With coach Andy Murray who looks at Djokovic stands, playing his first match here after a bye in the first round, pulverized errors on his forehand in a deeply unusual display, descending 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.
“It doesn’t feel well when you play this way, but congratulations to my opponent,” said the 37 -year -old player. “Just a bad day in the office.
Djokovic partially attributed its poor performance not to be prepared with the difference between the courts of practice and what it perceived as a more alive stage 1 surface.
“To be honest, the difference between the central court and the other courts is immense,” he said. “The ball bounces back to the central court higher than some of the highest clay lessons, to be honest.
“I fought a lot with that. I couldn’t find the pace.
After held the service in the first match of the match, Djokovic continued to be the worst run in his career, losing 20 of the 23 points. Overall, in the first set, he made 14 uns forked errors and struck only four winners. The five -time champion was much better in the second set and it was inevitable that he was moving forward now – but that was not the case.
“The first three, four games in the third set were quite close,” said Djokovic. “I had my chances, these are just horrible mistakes.
It seemed possible that there were physical problems there, potentially in the stomach. “It’s always something going on but I don’t want to talk about it,” said Djokovic. “Obviously, no excuse for poor performance.”
Van de Zandschulp develops all the reputation of Giants. He has now beat Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal and now Djokovic in the past six months.
Djokovic must now decide to go to the second stage of the Sunshine Swing in Miami to try to resume a form or to focus on the construction of the clay season.
“I still haven’t talked to Andy and the team,” he said, “so I’m going to do that and make a plan.”
Titanic’s victory against Carlos Alcaraz at Australian Open feels a long time ago. This victory was obtained despite a muscle tear in the left leg which forced Djokovic to withdraw from his semi-final in Melbourne. He has not won a match since, with defeat in Doha last month and now.
Not for the first time in the past 12 months, we are wondering where the Grand Chelem champion goes 24 times.