World number one Novak Djokovic clearly lost to Alejandro Tabilo from Chile in the third round of the Italian Open.
World number one Novak Djokovic was surprisingly eliminated in the third round of the Masters 1000 tournament Italian Open in Rome.
The Serbian lost 2-6, 3-6 on Sunday to the world’s number 32, Alejandro Tabilo from Chile.
The six-time winner of the tournament in Rome had a terrible start to the match and lost his first two service games, quickly falling behind 0-4 in the first set.
Things didn’t improve much in the second set, where Tabilo took a 40-0 lead in Djokovic’s first service game and then finished the job, breaking on his fourth break point to lead 1-0.
Unusually broken multiple times
The normally nearly invincible Djokovic made a double fault and was broken for the fourth time, as 26-year-old Tabilo celebrated the biggest victory of his career after only about 68 minutes of play.
At the end of May, Djokovic will start his title defense at the French Open. Three of his 24 Grand Slam titles have been won in the French capital.
He has not reached a final yet in 2024 and will arrive with only six clay court matches under his belt after his early exit in Rome.
This, of course, means that there is now great uncertainty about what he will be able to achieve at the French Open later this month.
Moreover, it has also fueled rumors that his career is nearing its end. The same is true for Rafael Nadal, who has already announced that this season is very likely to be his last as a professional tennis player.
