INDIAN WELLS (Reuters) - Novak Djokovic was shocked by Botic van de Zandschulp 6-2 3-6 6-1 in the second round of Indian Wells on Saturday as the Serbian suffered an early exit at the hands of a tournament lucky loser for a second consecutive year.
Djokovic fell to lucky loser Luca Nardi of Italy in the California desert last year and history repeated itself on Stadium One court a day after top seed Alexander Zverev also went out.
The twenty-four time Grand Slam champion got off to a horrid start, hitting 14 unforced errors and being broken twice in the opening set.
He regrouped to race out to a 3-0 lead in the second, levelling the contest with a mighty forehand winner and pumping his fist in front of the packed, sun-soaked crowd.
But giant killer van de Zandschulp ran away with the decider, breaking Djokovic for a fourth time with a perfectly executed lob for a 3-1 lead and sealing the stunning upset when Djokovic’s shot went wide on match point.
Van de Zandschulp was up a set and 3-0 on Nick Kyrgios in his first-round match on Stadium One on Thursday before the Australian withdrew with wrist pain.
Djokovic, 37, retired from his Australian Open semifinal against Alexander Zverev with a hamstring injury and lost in the Qatar Open first round last month.