Novak Djokovic suffered a humiliating defeat at Indian Wells for the second year in a row, knocked out by world No85 Botic van de Zandschulp.
In 2024 the great Serb lost to lucky loser Luca Nardi and again he fell at the hands of a player who got another chance after losing in qualifying.
With coach Andy Murray looking on from the stands Djokovic, playing his first match here after a first-round bye, sprayed errors on his forehand side in a deeply uncharacteristic display, 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. ‘Just a bad day in the office.’
Djokovic partially ascribed his poor performance to being unprepared for the difference in between the practice courts and what he perceived as a livelier Stadium 1 surface.
‘To be honest, the difference between the centre court and the other courts is immense,’ he said. ‘The ball is bouncing on the centre court higher than some of the highest clay courts, to be honest.
‘I struggled a lot with that. Couldn’t find the rhythm.’
After holding serve in the first game of the match Djokovic went on what must be the worst run of his career, losing 20 of the next 23 points. Overall in the first set he made 14 unforced errors and hit just four winners. The five-time champion was far better in the second set and it felt inevitable he would now pull ahead – but it was not so.
‘The first three, four games of the third set were quite close,’ said Djokovic. ‘I had my chances, it was just some awful mistakes.’
It looked possible that there were some physical issues there, potentially in the stomach area. ‘It’s always something happening but I don’t want to talk about it,’ said Djokovic. ‘Obviously no excuses for a poor performance.’
Van de Zandschulp is developing quite the giantslaying reputation. He has now beaten Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal and now Djokovic in the last six months.
Djokovic must now decide whether to head on to the second leg of the Sunshine Swing in Miami to attempt to regain some form, or focus on building up to the clay season.
‘I still haven’t talked with Andy and the team,’ he said, ‘so going to do that and make a plan.’
The titanic win over Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open feels a long time ago now. That victory was achieved despite a muscle tear in the left leg which forced Djokovic to withdraw from his semi-final in Melbourne. He has not won a match since, with defeat in Doha last month and now this.
Not for the first time in the last 12 months, we are left asking where the 24-time Grand Slam champion goes from here.
