Coco Gauff's ex-coach reacts to Novak Djokovic crashing out to Alejandro Tabilo in Monte-Carlo

Coco Gauff’s former coach and tennis player Brad Gilbert commented on Novak Djokovic's second-round loss to Alejandro Tabilo at the Monte-Carlo Masters. Tabilo defeated Djokovic in straight sets and dominated the encounter from start to finish.

The Chilean’s first serve was on point, as he won 81% of the points on his first serve against the greatest returner of all time. However, Djokovic seemed to have some issues with his forearm. In the practice sessions, he held his arm in pain, and urgent medical attention was provided. He even had an eye infection, but that was expected to have been treated before entering the match.

This was not the first time Tabilo defeated Djokovic in his career. Last year, the Chilean defeated the 24-time Grand Slam champion in the second round of the Rome masters, 6-2, 6-3. He leads the head-to-head record against the Serb 2-0, a feat achieved by very few.

After the match, Brad Gilbert gave his reaction to Alejandro Tabilo's victory on his X account. He wrote:

“wow Tabilo came into MC really struggling with a 2-9 record and a very rough beat in Htown, losing with triple MP, beats Djoker for 2nd time fairly routinely, crazy how the game can be and turn on dime, we saw this from all 3 winners @atptour last week @SharkoTennis”

The 27-year-old entered the tournament with very little confidence as he had only two wins in the season before the Monte-Carlo Masters. Even on his home turf, at the Chile Open, he was knocked out in the first round by Federico Coria in three hard-fought sets. His biggest upset came in Houston, where he lost to Jenson Brooksby, the eventual winner of the tournament, despite having three match points in hand.

The Chilean turned things around in Monaco, as he defeated Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic in consecutive rounds of an ATP 1000 event.

Gilbert even mentioned three young and different winners in the last week on the ATP tour. Brooksby, who was the qualifier in the tournament, won the Houston Open by defeating second seed Francis Tiafoe in the finals; Flavio Cobolli won the Bucharest Open, defeating clay court specialist Sebastian Baez; Luciano Daraderi beat top seed Tallon Griekspoor to win the Marrakech Open. All these players are aged under 25 and won against all the odds.

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Alejandro Tabilo will face Grigor Dimitrov in the third round of the Monte-Carlo Masters

Alejandro Tabilo (Red) and Grigor Dimitrov (Blue) at the Laver Cup 2024 - Source: Getty

Alejandro Tabilo will lock horns against Grigor Dimitrov in a third-round clash at the Monte-Carlo Masters. Tabilo will be riding high on confidence as he is coming off two victories against two successful players, Stan Wawrinka, and Novak Djokovic.

Grigor Dimitrov is the 15th seed in the tournament. He faced Nicolas Jarry in the first round and defeated him in straight sets. The Bulgarian scored a comeback victory in the second round against Valentin Vacherot. Vacherot won the first set 6-4, but then Dimitrov bounced back in the other two sets, sealing the match 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.

This will be their third encounter against each other. The 33-year-old leads the head-to-head record 2-0. The last time the two players met was at the Laver Cup 2024, where Dimitrov won the match in two straight sets tiebreaker. Alejandro Tabilo will be looking forward to getting his first win against the World No. 18.

The match is scheduled to be played on Thursday, April 10, at 4:10 PM local time in Court Des Princes. The time might vary according to the conclusion of the previous match played in the arena.