Botic van de Zandschulp explains what Novak Djokovic ‘struggled’ to do against him that led to shock Indian Wells defeat
Novak Djokovic failed to win his 100th title at the Indian Wells, losing in the second round to Botic van de Zandschulp.
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Novak Djokovic, Botic van de Zandschulp (Image via X)
Novak Djokovic has now suffered three consecutive defeats for the first time since 2018. On Saturday (March 8), he was up against Botic van de Zandschulp, and in about two hours, he shockingly got knocked out.
The World No.7 entered the tournament as a five-time Indian Wells champion. Although he was not the heavy favorite this time, he at least was expected to make a deep run. Following the match, the former World No.1 admitted that despite practicing a lot, he failed to give his best, calling his mediocre performance a “bad day in the office“.
Djokovic, however, also thinks the surface too perhaps affected his game. Van de Zandschulp echoed the sentiments and thinks he handled the conditions “a little bit better” than Djokovic.
The conditions were quite difficult today. I think the bounces were quite high. I think Novak struggled a little bit with the bounces. I think he often hit his forehand a little bit too high. The ball bounced quite high, so, yeah, the conditions were very different to what I had, I think, two years ago in Astana. The sun didn’t make it easy either. At one point we had shade and sun in the stadium.
Botic van de Zandschulp said at the press conference
The 85th-ranked Dutchman, who registered his eighth career top 10 win, will lock horns with 25th-seed Francisco Cerundolo, who beat Mackenzie McDonald in the first round. Van de Zandschulp also clinched his first back-to-back wins on the tour this season.
Novak Djokovic fails to match Rafael Nadal’s record after Indian Wells defeat
Novak Djokovic leads the list with most ATP Masters 1000 titles, winning 40. He is also a 59-time finalist and a 78-time semifinalist, the most in the same category.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion would have matched Rafael Nadal‘s record had he won his opener in the California desert against Botic Van de Zandschulp. The 22-time Grand Slam champion called time on his illustrious career at last year’s Davis Cup Finals after his defeat to Van de Zandschulp in the quarterfinals.
Both Djokovic and Nadal have now played 500 ATP Masters 1000 matches with the Spaniard leading the list with a 410-90 win-loss record. The next tournament of the Sunshine Doubles is the Miami Open but he’s unsure about his participation.
The 37-year-old is 7-4 on the season. He lost in the Brisbane International quarterfinals, following which, his hamstring injury forced him to retire mid-match in the Australian Open semifinals. In Doha then, Nole lost to Matteo Berrettini in the opening round.
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