In two hours and twenty minutes, the 20-year-old Nardi—a lucky loser—beat Djokovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to record his biggest career victory. World No. 1 and five-time champion Novak Djokovic was eliminated from the Indian Wells Masters on Monday following an unexpected third-round loss to lucky loser from Italy, Luca Nardi, ranked 123.
“Before this night no-one knew me,” Nardi said in an on-court interview after his win. “I hope the crowd enjoyed the game; I’m super happy with this one.”, the 20-year-old added
“I don’t know. I think it really is a miracle. I’m a guy ranked outside the top 100 in the world and now I’m beating Novak — crazy, crazy.” After losing to David Goffin in the last qualifying round, Argentine World No. 30 Tomas Martin Etcheverry withdrew, allowing Nardi to advance to the main draw. After receiving a bye in the opening round, the Italian defeated Zhizhen Zhang of China 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the round of 64.
In order to advance to the quarterfinals, Nardi—who is only the sixth player outside of the Top 100 to beat a world number one at the Masters level since 1990—will next face Tommy Paul, the 17th-seeded American. Earlier, to get to the round of 16, Gael Monfils defeated former champion Cameron Norrie 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 6-3 after mounting an incredible comeback from a set and 3-0 down.
The 37-year-old Frenchman’s inventiveness enthralled the audience and set up a fourth-round match against ninth-seeded Casper Ruud, who won 6-2, 6-4 over Arthur Fils. The 2021 champion Norrie made 60 unintentional mistakes and was unable to complete the tricky Monfils puzzle during the three hours and fifteen minutes of play. The seventh seed 17th-seeded American Holger Rune defeated Lorenzo Musetti 6-2, 7-6(5). In another third-round match, Tommy Paul easily defeated Ugo Humbert, 6-4, 6-4.
This win marks a significant milestone for Nardi’s career and represents a major upset in the tennis world. Djokovic, a 21-time Grand Slam champion, was considered the favorite to win the tournament. The defeat puts an end to Djokovic’s 15-match winning streak at Indian Wells and raises questions about his form leading up to the clay-court season.
