Luca Nardi, an external player, shocks Novak Djokovic by achieving victory in the Indian Wells tournament.

Novak Djokovic was eliminated from the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells by the fortunate loser Luca Nardi.

Nardi, a 20-year-old, secured a spot in the last-16 round where he will face American Tommy Paul after defeating the current world No 1 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. As the No 123 player in the world, the Italian becomes the lowest-ranked player to defeat Djokovic at the ATP Masters 1000 or grand slam level.

“I don’t know [how I held my nerve],” he said. “I think it is a miracle, because I am a 20-year-old guy, 100 in the world, and beating Novak. It’s crazy.”

Nardi secured his win by acing his opponent for the sixth time in the final set and also notching 16 winning shots, compared to only two by the five-time Indian Wells champion.

Djokovic stated that he accepts the ups and downs of sports and hopes to win more trophies in the future. He acknowledges that some wins and losses are inevitable, but remains determined to break his recent streak of disappointing performances in the last few tournaments. Each new trophy he receives will be significant in overcoming this cycle.

Paul advanced to the round of 16 by defeating Ugo Humbert of France with a score of 6-4, 6-4. In addition, the seventh seed Holger Rune, ninth seed Casper Ruud, Taylor Fritz, and Grigor Dimitrov all won their matches in straight sets. Dimitrov will now face off against the fourth seed, Daniil Medvedev, who won a tough three-set match against Sebastian Korda with a score of 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.

Unfortunately, despite being the top-ranked British player, Cameron Norrie was eliminated from the tournament in a thrilling match against 37-year-old French player Gaël Monfils. Norrie initially had a strong lead, winning the first set and leading 3-0 in the second, but ultimately lost in a 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-3 defeat.

Monfils fought his way back to tie the second set in a remarkable tie-break, where he even scored a point with an underarm serve. In the end, he secured the set with an impressive 31-stroke rally.

Source: theguardian.com