:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/mentormedier/WUTBYDGJ5LDITD7GEV3YVX3XCI.jpg "Djokovic had a blast in the Indian Wells tournament – Dagsavisen")
20-year-old Nardi is only the sixth player outside the top 100 in the ATP rankings to defeat a world number one at Masters level (ATP1000) since 1990. The young Italian crashed out in the qualifying phase of the tournament, but still made the main draw after a other player withdrew.
Nardi took the first blow in the duel against Djokovic with 6-4 in the opening set. The Serbian then leveled at 1-1, before the 123rd-ranked Italian broke the world record at 3-2 in the third set. It laid the foundation for a very surprising victory.
– I do not have words. What shall I say? To be completely honest, I don’t know. This is a miracle, said Nardi after the victory.
Before the meeting with Nardi, Djokovic had won 24 straight matches against players outside the top 100 in the world rankings. The streak ended on Monday. The world number one could have become a possible opponent for Casper Ruud in a quarter-final, but the Norwegian now avoids a possible meeting with the Serb.
– He came here as a qualifier and basically had nothing to lose. He played fantastically and deserved to win, Djokovic said after the loss.
He also directed strong criticism at his own game.
– I am very surprised at myself. My level was very, very bad today. When he has a good day, while I have a bad day, it often results in victory for the opponent.