On Tuesday, Novak Djokovic, making his first appearance in Indian Wells since 2019, lost 4-6 6-3 3-6 to Italy’s Luca Nardi in the Round of 32. The 20-year-old Nardi, who is also ranked No. 123, celebrated his great victory by dropping his racket, bringing his hands to his face in obvious shock and greeting his boyhood idol Djokovic at the net.
The Italian also became the lowest-ranked player to beat Djokovic at the Grand Slam or ATP Masters 1000 level, surpassing No. 122 Kevin Anderson in Miami in 2008.
Djokovic was expected to take part in the Miami Masters, which was set to start on March 22, following Indian Wells. However, it appears that he will not be participating in the Miami Open, as reported by Serbian journalist Sasa Ozmo.
Djokovic did the same after losing to Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open semi-finals, skipping the tournaments in February before returning to competition at Indian Wells.
In a press conference following his defeat, Djokovic stated, “Yeah, for the moment, Miami is there, so let’s see. Let’s see, obviously 10 minutes ago I was on the court, so I’m still hot-headed a bit. I need to take a day or two and then see what I want to do next.”
Speaking about Nardi, he said, “He got in as a lucky loser’ to (the) 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.”
