Novak Djokovic was unable to break his Indian Wells Masters hoodoo as the world number one suffered a surprise third-round exit at the hands of Italian lucky loser Luca Nardi.
The Serbian came into the 2024 tournament having not advanced beyond the fourth round since winning the 2016 edition, and his most recent appearance in 2019 also ended with a third-round exit.
Following three straight absences from Indian Wells, Djokovic made his California return with a three-set win over Aleksandar Vukic in round two but was subsequently defeated 4-6 6-3 3-6 by Nardi in two hours and 20 minutes.
Sixteen years Djokovic's junior and ranked 122 places below the world number one in the ATP Tour standings, Nardi made history as the lowest-ranked player to ever knock Djokovic out of Masters event.
Djokovic landed just 60% of his first serves and only managed half of Nardi's winners - 17 compared to the Italian's 34 - and his 20-year-old foe advanced despite committing seven double faults on the afternoon.
"I don't know [how I held my nerve]. 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 said on the court. "I think that before this night no one knew me. I hope that the crowd enjoyed the game. I'm super happy with this one."
Nardi's reward is a fourth-round tie with 17th seed Tommy Paul, while elsewhere on Monday, British duo Cameron Norrie and Emma Raducanu were also eliminated in the third round.
Ben Knapton
