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Tennis fans recently reacted to Novak Djokovic's unexpected loss to Italian lucky loser Luca Nardi in the third round at Indian Wells.
Djokovic made a highly anticipated return to the BNP Paribas Open after a five-year absence, only to suffer a surprising defeat at the hands of Nardi. The match ended with a score of 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, marking the end of the Serb's quest for a sixth Indian Wells title for now.
The World No. 123 also became the lowest-ranked player to beat the Serb at the ATP Masters 1000 or Grand Slam level. Tennis fans around the world were left stunned by the Italian's win against the World No. 1 and they took to social media to express their disbelief.
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One fan pointed out that the Serb's weakness was Italians as both his recent defeats have come at the hands of Italian players. For the unversed, his first loss of the season came against Jannik Sinner in the 2024 Australian Open semifinals.
"Italians are Novak Djokovic's weakness," a fan posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Another fan stated that the message ("N See you soon!") that Carlos Alcaraz wrote on the camera following his third-round win over Felix Auger-Aliassime was about Luca Nardi and not about Novak Djokovic which some of them had previously speculated.
"N was for Nardi, Alcaraz knew," the fan posted on Reddit.
Here are a few more reactions from tennis fans:
Nardi's next assignment is a last-16 clash against American Tommy Paul in Indian Wells.
Novak Djokovic on his loss to Luca Nardi: "My level was really, really bad"
During the post-match press conference, Novak Djokovic gave his thoughts on the match and his loss to Luca Nardi.
The Serb congratulated Nardi on his victory, admitting that he was not very familiar with the young Italian player but had watched him play and was impressed by his skill and playing style.
"Congrats to him for particularly in the third set playing some great, great tennis. I watched him play. I didn't know much about him, but I watched him play, and I knew he possesses great quality tennis from the baseline, especially the forehand side. Moves well. Very talented," he said.
The World No. 1 acknowledged Nardi's strong performance and credited Luca Nardi on winning the match, while also taking responsibility for his own subpar play, deeming his performance, "really, really bad."
"He got in as a Lucky Loser to main draw, so he really didn't have anything to lose, so he played great. Deserved to win. I was more surprised with my level. My level was really, really bad. That's it, you know. These two things come together. He's having a great day; I'm having a really bad day. Results as a negative outcome for me," he added.
Djokovic won just 42% of the points on his second serve and hit 17 winners — half of what his 20-year-old opponent managed.
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