Novak Djokovic ended up engaging in an argument with a chair umpire after losing to Italian Luca Nardi in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. Only a lucky loser in the men’s draw, Nardi shocked the tennis world by defeating the top-ranked player 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
This is the first time in Djokovic’s illustrious career that a ‘lucky loser’ has defeated him in a major slam match. Additionally, the Italian is the lowest-ranked player to defeat Djokovic at the Grand Slam or ATP Masters 1000 level. Nardi was given a bye in the first round and only gained an entry in the men’s draw as a result of Tomas Martin Etcheverry’s injury.
In the second set, Djokovic’s opponent took advantage of a strange situation to win a point off the Serb’s serve, which made him even more angry.
A Djokovic serve was called in, which caught Nardi off guard. He calmly slapped the ball back over the net, thinking the game was done. To Djokovic’s dismay, the Italian rushed in and struck a winner when the chair umpire failed to call a drop shot as Djokovic approached the net to attempt one.
Djokovic challenged the point, but the chair umpire rejected the claim that Nardi’s little stop did constitute interference and clarified that Nardi would not lose the point.
The chair umpire told Djokovic: “Just because he stops, doesn’t mean the point stops.”
Djokovic replied: “He literally stopped and that completely confused me. And I stopped as well. How can you not make that judgment?”
As per the chair umpire’s explanation, there would have been interference if Nardi had called ‘out’ or made any similar statement to distract Djokovic. Djokovic lost the game in the end, in addition to the controversy and the point.
"He literally stopped" 🤯
A moment of contention during Novak Djokovic vs Luca Nardi…#TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/AlVndqqBZM
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 12, 2024
Novak Djokovic in 2024
LWWWWWWWWL Currently ranked no.1, the Serbian played his last match on the 11th of March when he capitulated to world no.123 Luca Nardi 6-4 3-6 6-3 in the 3rd round in Indian Wells (draw).
At present, during this year the Serbian has managed to achieve a 8-3 win-loss record. Novak Djokovic’s best result of this season was reaching the semifinal at the Australian Open.
Djokovic will compete next in Miami (Miami Open). He will start from the main draw that will commence on the 18th of March.
Nardi in Indian Wells, ranking, and results in 2024
LLLLLLWLLL Now the world no.123, Nardi owns a composed 9-6 win-loss record in 2024. The Italian is competing in Indian Wells where he overcame the world no.17 Tommy Paul , the world no.136 Terence Atmane 6-4 6-0, the world no.50 Zhizhen Zhang 6-3 3-6 6-3 and the world no.1 Novak Djokovic 6-4 3-6 6-3.
Luca Nardi will come up against the world no.17 Tommy Paul in the 4th round. Their actual head to head record is 1-0 for Nardi.
Luca was the finalist in the Chennai Challenger.
He is also scheduled to play in Miami (Miami Open) on the 20th of March and Estoril (Millennium Estoril Open) on the 1st of April.
Novak Djokovic and Luca Nardi faced off only on 1 occasion. Their head to head is 1-0 for Nardi. When they played, Luca Nardi won 6-4 3-6 6-3 in the 3rd round in Indian Wells (BNP Paribas Open) on the 11th of March 2024.
Here are the highlights.
