Luca Nardi Shocks Novak Djokovic in Indian Wells upset

Luca Nardi used a combination of poise and power to surprise his childhood idol and top seed Novak Djokovic with a 6/4, 3/6, 6/3 victory on Monday night in the third round at Indian Wells, first Masters 1000 of the season.

Nardi, who is 123 in the world ranking, closed his big surprise over the world number one with an ace. The 20-year-old Italian dropped his racket and put his hands to his face almost in disbelief before shaking Djokovic’s hand at the net.

The lowest ranked player to beat Novak Djokovic in Masters 1000 or Grand Slams 🥁🥁🥁

👏 @Luca___Nardi 👏

— ATP Tour in Spanish (@ATPTour_ES) March 12, 2024

And to think I was almost heading home. He entered the main draw of the tournament as a “lucky loser”, that is, a player who was one step away from qualifying, but who enters as a replacement for an injured player who abandons before the first round. In Nardi’s case, he took the place of Argentine Tomás Etcheverry (30) and received an automatic pass from the first round.

“I don’t think anyone knew me before tonight,” Nardi said after the win of his life.

And we focus on him.

Who is Luca Nardi?

Luca Nardi is originally from Pesaro, Italy, and began playing tennis at a club in his city at the age of 7 with his brother Niccolo.

Since deciding to pursue a professional tennis career at age 16, Nardi has won five Challenger titles: three in 2022 (Mallorca, Lugano and Forli) and two last year (Porto and Matsuyama).

He played his first match on the major circuit at the ATP in Antwerp 2020, with a loss in the first round against the American Marcos Giron. And until this win over Djokovic he had not won a main draw match on the ATP Tour this season.

His best performance on the top circuit had been at last year’s Monte Carlo Masters 1000, where he advanced from qualifying to the second round.

Luca Nardi can’t believe it: he just beat his childhood idol in a Masters 1000. (AP)

Now he can boast of having reached the round of 16 in Indian Wells, and against the American Tommy Paul (17) he will seek to continue making history.

Nardi’s victory over Djokovic

Nardi set the tone early on with his hard-hitting strikes and frustrated Djokovic all night. There was a moment when the Italian was surprised by an “in” call and casually returned a shot that turned out to be a winner, which led the Serbian to complain to the center judge.

“It’s a miracle,” Nardi said in a post-match interview on the Tennis Channel. “I’m 20 years old, I’m 100 in the world and I beat Novak. Crazy. Crazy,” he admitted.

Nardi won the “match of his life” and eliminated Serbian Novak Djokovic from Indian Wells. (AP)

The result is as surprising as the way Nardi tilted it in his favor. Instead of the nerves that were expected on his part when facing a number one 1 and his childhood idol – of whom he has had a poster in his room since he was 8 years old – the Italian radiated a confidence inappropriate for someone with just three victories. in his career on the ATP Tour before this duel.

He took over the game from the start and the statistics reflect it: he scored twice as many winning shots as his rival (34 versus 17). And perhaps because of the same intention to dominate, he also committed more than twice as many unforced errors (19 vs. 9). But the formula worked for the participant of the Next Gen ATP Finals 2023.

“𝙎𝙚 𝙟𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙣 𝙚𝙨𝙖𝙨 𝙙𝙤𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙨𝙖𝙨: É𝙡 𝙩𝙪𝙫𝙤 𝙪 “”

🎙️ The words of Novak Djokovic, after his exit in the third round of Indian Wells against Nardi.@BNPPARIBASOPEN | #TennisParadise

— ATP Tour in Spanish (@ATPTour_ES) March 12, 2024

Although he won fewer points in the match than Djokovic (92 against 93), he prevailed in the most important moments and raised his level when it mattered most.

“I don’t know how I kept my nerve,” he said of the tense end to the match that lasted two hours and 20 minutes. “I think it’s a miracle, because I’m a 20-year-old boy, I’m outside the Top 100 in the rankings, and I beat Novak. “It’s crazy,” he insisted.

2024-03-12 15:02:44
#Luca #Nardi #young #Italian #lucky #loser #eliminated #Djokovic #Indian #Wells