Novak Djokovic suffered a humiliating defeat in Indian Wells for the second consecutive year, knocked out by the world No85 Botic Van de Zandschulp.
In 2024, the great Serbian lost to the lucky loser Luca Nardi and again fell to a player who had another chance after losing in the qualification.
With coach Andy Murray looking from the Stands Djokovic, playing his first game here after a good-round goodbye, he sprayed errors on his side on the right on a deeply little characteristic screen, going down 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.
“It doesn't feel great when you play this way, but congratulations to my opponent,” said the 37 -year -old man. “Just a bad day in the office.”
Djokovic partially attributed his poor performance not to be prepared for the difference between the practice courts and what he perceived as an surface of stadium 1 more alive.
“To be honest, the difference between the central court and the other courts is immense,” he said. 'The ball is bouncing on the central court higher than some of the highest clay courts, to be honest.
Novak Djokovic is packing his bags after being abandoned from the Indian wells in the second round
Botic van der Zandschulp is developing a giant reputation after his victory over Djokovic
Djokovic coach Andy Murray, was looking from the stands in Indian Wells, California
I looked a lot with that. I couldn't find the rhythm.
After maintaining the service in the first game of the game, Djokovic followed what should be the worst streak of his career, losing 20 of the next 23 points. In general, on the first set, he made 14 uninforced mistakes and hit only four winners. The five times champion was much better in the second set and was inevitable that he now advanced, but it was not so.
“The first three, four third set games were quite close,” said Djokovic. “I had my possibilities, they were only some horrible mistakes.”
It seemed possible that there were some physical problems there, potentially in the stomach area. “Something is always happening, but I don't want to talk about that,” Djokovic said. “Obviously there are no excuses for low performance.”
Van de Zandschulp is developing a giant collection reputation. Now he has defeated Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal and now Djokovic in the last six months.
Djokovic seems dejected during his defeat of three sets against the world No 85 on Saturday night
Djokovic was recently singing Murray's praises while the couple continues to work together
Djokovic must now decide whether to go to the second stage of the Sunshine Swing in Miami to try to recover some way, or focus on building the clay season.
“I haven't talked to Andy and the team yet,” he said, “so I'm going to do that and do a plan.”
Titanic's victory over Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open is felt a long time ago. That victory was achieved despite a muscular rupture in the left leg that forced Djokovic to withdraw from his semifinal in Melbourne. He has not won a game since then, with the defeat in Doha last month and now this.
Not for the first time in the last 12 months, we wondered where the 24 times Grand Slam champion is going from here.