Tennis: World No. 123 knocks out Novak Djokovic from BNP Paribas Open
New Delhi, Mar12: In a surprise move, a 20-year-old Italian tennis player who entered the BNP Paribas Open as ‘a luck loser,’ knocked out World No.1 Novak Djokovic, 36 on Monday. Last night, Luca Nardi had the biggest win in his career by beating Novak Djokovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Nardi, the World No.123, also made a history of being the lowest PIF ATP ranking to win against Djokovic and the fourth lowest-ranked tennis player to beat the World No.1 tennis player at a Masters 1000.
Reacting after this historical game, Nardi said “Before this night, no one knew Me. I hope the crowd enjoyed the game; I’m super happy with this one.” Djokovic admitted that his level wasn’t good enough and congratulated Nardi.
“I was in a way shocked with my level, in a bad way, there wasn’t much I was doing right in the first two sets. I guess this is one of the worst grand slams I’ve ever played. Not a very pleasant feeling playing this way. But credit goes to him for doing everything better than me, in every aspect of the game.” Novak said.
Nardi’s highest ranking in ATP singles was World No.106 in February 2024, while his highest ranking in ATP doubles was World No.299 in 2023. He has never won a grand slam title.
