Former World No.20 worried about one key Novak Djokovic attribute after shocking Indian Wells loss

Novak Djokovic has now lost three consecutive ATP matches in a single season for the first time since 2018.

Former World No.20 worried about one key Novak Djokovic attribute after shocking Indian Wells loss

Novak Djokovic (Image via ATP/X)

Russian coach and tennis star Dmitry Tursunov has reacted to Novak Djokovic’s surprising loss at Indian Wells. The Serb lost in his opening round to Botic van de Zandschulp in three sets, further hurting his start to the 2025 season.

Tursunov is not worried about the result but is concerned about Djokovic’s inconsistent serve. The Russian believes that the Serb is no longer dominant on his serve, which has put his returning game under pressure.

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I think everyone understands that Novak is currently far from his best form. That’s why the match didn’t go well. What is striking is that Novak didn’t hit a single ace. Three double faults is not that bad. But the fact that there was no ace on the serve of one of the best tennis players is probably already a small warning sign. 67% of first serves is not so bad, Botic had 71%. The problem is rather in the percentage of winning serves, which is 63% for Novak and 60% for Botic behind the first ball. That is to say, in this category, Novak was in the lead. But there is a huge gap in the percentage of points won on the second serve – only 29% for Djokovic compared to 71% for Van De Zandschulp. This is not allowed on the men’s circuit. With such an indicator, it is simply impossible to win.

Dmitry Tursunov said in an interview to Championat

Djokovic made three double faults in his match against van de Zandschulp and won only 33% of his second-serve points. Moreover, he did not hit a single ace throughout the match. Djokovic was broken five times out of the eight break points he faced. On the other hand, he could only break his opponent’s serve twice out of the four break points he had.

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Novak Djokovic makes unwanted history at Indian Wells

Novak Djokovic faced more trouble as he lost to world No. 85 Botic van de Zandschulp in his first match at Indian Wells. This was a surprise defeat for the Serbian star, who rarely loses to lower-ranked players. It was only the third time he has ever been beaten by a lucky loser. All these losses have happened in the past five years, with two of them at Indian Wells.

Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic gave clarification on his viral video (via X)

Djokovic’s first loss to a lucky loser was in 2020 at the Vienna Open. Back then, he was the top seed in the world, No. 1. He lost 6-2 6-1 to Lorenzo Sonego in the quarter-finals. In 2024, he was defeated 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 by Luca Nardi, who was world No. 123, also at Indian Wells.

This latest defeat to van de Zandschulp adds to Djokovic’s struggles. The Dutchman had earlier lost to Matteo Gigante in the qualifying rounds. Despite his recent losses, the Serb has a great record with 40 Masters 1000 titles and a joint-record of five Indian Wells titles with Roger Federer.

However, Djokovic has now set an unwanted record at the Masters 1000 events. He is the first top-10 player to lose to a lucky loser at the same Masters event two years in a row since the format started in 1990.