Novak Djokovic-conqueror Botic van de Zandschulp shares cheeky 'lucky loser' camera message after shock Indian Wells upset

Novak Djokovic faced a shock upset in his campaign opening match at the 2025 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. Botic van de Zandschulp, who advanced to the main draw as a lucky loser, got the better of the 24-time Gand Slam champion and shared a cheeky message after the win.

Djokovic's form has been topsy-turvy since 2024 but his start to 2025 has been underwhelming so far. The Serb started the season with a quarterfinal exit at the Brisbane International, where he lost to Reilly Opelka, who was ranked below 300 at the time. After a semifinal exit at the Australian Open, the 37-year-old suffered a first-round exit at the Qatar Open, losing to Matteo Berrettini.

The Serb's struggles continued in Indian Wells as Botic van de Zandschulp beat him 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 to knock him out of the tournament. This was the first time since the 2022 Monte-Carlo Masters that Djokovic failed to reach the third round at a Masters 1000 tournament. It was also Van de Zandschulp's first win over the 24-time Grand Slam champion.

Seeded third in the qualifiers, the Dutchman lost to Matteo Gigante and only qualified because of withdrawals from the main draw. In the first round, he defeated Nick Kyrgios after the Aussie retired mid-match due to a wrist injury.

After advancing to the third round, Van de Zandschulp shared a cheeky message on the camera. He wrote:

"Lucky loser (smiley)"

Another alarming statistic for Djokovic is that this was the second time in a row at Indian Wells that he was defeated by a lucky loser, as last year, Luca Nardi got the better of him.

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Botic van de Zandschulp opens up about his thoughts on the win over Novak Djokovic at Indian Wells

Botic van de Zandschulp at the BNP Paribas Open - Source: Getty

Botic van de Zandschulp opened up about keeping his cool throughout the win over Novak Djokovic. The Dutchman admitted he was on the back foot in the second set but recovered well.

"I think I kept my cool during the whole match... The second set was very tough, he gained a big lead. But I think I did well turning it to 5-3 to get the momentum back a little bit," Van de Zandschulp said (via ATPTour.com).

"I know if I go into the match and lose my cool, especially against the big players, it’s going to be a really tough day. That’s always one thing I’m trying to do well," he added.

The Dutchman will take on Argentine Francisco Cerundolo in the third round. 25th seed Cerundolo got the better of Mackenzie McDonald in the second round.