tennis
Desolate Djokovic loses third round match in Rome
Novak Djokovic surprisingly retired in Rome after a weak performance. photo
© Alessandra Tarantino/AP/dpa
So it won’t be enough for the 25th Grand Slam title in Paris: Novak Djokovic’s early exit from the Masters in Rome is a mystery. His opponent from Chile, on the other hand, is making history.
Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic suffered a bitter setback two weeks before the start of the French Open.
The 24-time Grand Slam tournament winner from Serbia deservedly lost against the Chilean Alejandro Tabilo 2:6, 3:6 at the Masters 1000 tournament in Rome and was surprisingly eliminated in the third round.
The top seed Djokovic was far from his top form before the second Grand Slam tournament of the year; the 36-year-old made a number of slight mistakes. Tellingly, Djokovic ended the match after just 67 minutes with a double fault on his own serve.
“This is crazy, I can’t believe it”
His opponent, who was ten years his junior, took advantage of the opportunity and played tactically cleverly. Tabilo became the first Chilean since 2007 to defeat a world number one. At that time, Fernando González beat the Swiss Roger Federer at the ATP finals. “This is crazy, I can’t believe it,” said Tabilo, who will now face Russian Karen Khachanov in the round of 16.
The trip to Rome was also a failure for Djokovic this year off the pitch. After his victory against Frenchman Corentin Moutet, he was hit by a bottle while signing autographs and fell to the ground. “It was an accident and I’m fine, I’m resting in the hotel with an ice pack,” the Serb wrote on X.
The organizers of the clay court tournament in the Italian capital announced that Djokovic had been treated with appropriate medication. A statement said that the drinking bottle had probably accidentally fallen on the six-time winner of the tournament and was not thrown at him on purpose. Video footage showed the bottle slipping out of a spectator’s pocket.
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