Novak Djokovic’s latest bid to win his 100th career title ended Wednesday with a surprising defeat to the familiar face.
Alejandro Tabilo, who was a surprising defeat at last year’s Italian Open to the 24th Grand Slam champion, defeated Djokovic 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters.
“It was a tough year, so I had a bit of nerves,” Tabilo said in an on-court interview. “I remembered what I did well last time, and thankfully I served well today and it helped me a lot. It was an unrealistic match.”
Tavillo, 27, hasn’t dropped the set yet against Djokovic. He joined Marat Safin and Jiri Veri, and was the only player who faced Djokovic multiple times and was not lost. All three have recorded Djokovic 2-0.
The Monte Carlo title made Djokovic the only player to win each Masters event at least three times.
“I was hoping to perform at least decently. It wasn’t something like this, it was horrifying,” said Djokovic, who made the forced error of 29. “I didn’t have high expectations. I knew there were tough opponents and I knew I was going to play pretty badly. But this is a bad thing, I wasn’t expecting it.
“I was hoping that wouldn’t happen, but there was a very high chance of playing it like this… It’s the scary feeling to play it like this.
Djokovic, who recently lost Jakub Mensyk’s Miami Open Final, will turn 38 next month – just before the French opening begins on May 25th.
Defensive French Open Champion Carlos Alcaraz began his clay court season by rallying with a 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 victory over Francisco Cerundo in the second round.
Second-seeded Alcaraz had a surprising loss to Belgian veteran David Goffin in his first match at the Miami Open.
Another upset seemed possible when Cerundolo, ranked 22nd, scored the first set, but Alcaraz dominated the rest of the match, converting five of his seven breakpoints into the second and third sets.
Alcaraz is seeking a second title for 2025 and is hoping to tweak his clay court game ahead of his bid to maintain the title at Roland Garros.
13th seed Lorenzo Musetti defeated Gili Lehecca 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 to set up a third round match against Italian Matteo Berrettini, who defeated top-seeded Alexander Zverev on Tuesday.
The 38-year-old French pair Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils were eliminated by Daniel Altmeier and seventh Andrey Lubreville, respectively.
The Monte Carlo Masters is the first big Clay Court Tournament of the Year on the ATP Tour.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to the report.