Roger Federer's ex-coach explains why he's not betting against Novak Djokovic despite Monte-Carlo shocker

Roger Federer's former coach, Paul Annacone, recently shared why he is not "betting" against Novak Djokovic, even after his surprising loss at the 2025 Monte-Carlo Masters. This tournament marked the Serb's return to clay since his gold medal win at the 2024 Paris Olympics, which was played at Roland Garros.

Djokovic was seeded third at the ATP Masters 1000 claycourt event in Monaco, and he began his campaign in the second round after receiving a first-round bye. He faced Alejandro Tabilo, who defeated wild card Stan Wawrinka in the first round, and lost in straight sets with a score of 3-6, 4-6. This was Tabilo's second victory over the former World No.1 in their two ATP Tour meetings

While speaking on Tennis Channel following Novak Djokovic's loss at the Monte-Carlo Masters, Roger Federer's ex-coach, Paul Annacone, explained that the scrutiny on the Serb's defeats is magnified due to his success throughout his career.

"I think the hardest thing is when you win as much as these all time greats win you tend to only make news when you lose. And Novak now because he’s not playing that much, he is losing what seems to be an inordinate amount of times. But guess what the most important thing for players at this stage, in this level is to periodize, ‘How am I gonna get ready for Roland Garros? How am I gonna get ready for Wimbledon?’" Annacone said [1:25].

Annacone expressed that, despite this loss, the 24-time Grand Slam champion will not "panic" or lose "confidence" in his abilities.

"And guess what he’s gonna have some of these losses but because he knows how good he is, he’s not going to panic, his confidence isn’t going to crash, it’s about staying healthy and trying to peak at the right moment," he continued [1:50].

Paul Annacone also noted that Novak Djokovic's track record speaks for itself, and he would never bet against him in a "big tournament."

"So I’ve always believed that you never really want to bet against greats, particularly all time greats in the biggest moments. He’s not gonna probably win you know three and four Majors over a couple years span all the time now, but he’s not going to be in every single Major. But when the guy wants to play I’m not betting against him in a big tournament yet," Paul Annacone added [2:00].

Novak Djokovic's best performances this season include finishing as the runner-up at the 2025 Miami Open, reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open, and making a quarterfinal run at the Brisbane International

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Novak Djokovic on his 2025 Monte-Carlo Masters defeat: "A horrible feeling to play this way, just sorry for all the people that have to witness this"

Novak Djokovic pictured speaking at a press conference [Image Source: Getty Images]

Speaking about his defeat to Alejandro Tabilo in the second round of the 2025 Monte-Carlo Masters, Novak Djokovic acknowledged that he had not set high expectations for himself before the match but was surprised by his poor performance.

"I expected myself at least to have put in a decent performance. Not like this. It was horrible . I did not have high expectations. I knew I'm going to have a tough opponent and I knew I'm going to probably play pretty bad. But this bad, I didn't expect," he said [via ATP Tour].

The former World No.1 expressed his disappointment, adding:

"I was hoping it was not going to happen, but it was quite a high probability I'm going to play this way. I don't know . [It was] just horrible. A horrible feeling to play this way, and just sorry for all the people that have to witness this."

Following his victory over Novak Djokovic, Alejandro Tabilo will take on 15th seed Grigor Dimitrov in the third round. The winner of this match will advance to face either eighth seed Alex de Minaur or ninth seed Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals at Monte-Carlo.