Novak Djokovic was beaten by world No. 46 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the Serb’s first match at Monte Carlo Masters.
The Spaniard had won just seven games across two previous meetings with Novak Djokovic coming into the Monte-Carlo Masters but he banished those demons in style with a stunning upset on the Monaco clay.
The Spaniard struck the ball with power and accuracy throughout the second-round clash, recovering from the disappointment of losing a tight second-set tie-break to clinch a 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1 victory at the ATP Masters 1000 event.
It was Djokovic’s first match since his quarter-final defeat to Jiri Vesely at the Dubai Tennis Championships in February and the top seed was given little room to find his feet by an opponent looking to prove himself at the Monte Carlo Country Club.
The World No. 1 may have enjoyed comfortable wins over the Spaniard at the 2021 Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome and the Tokyo Olympics, but Davidovich Fokina reached the quarter-finals on debut in Monte Carlo in 2021 and is renowned as one of the toughest competitors on Tour.
Any illusions of a third consecutive landslide victory for Djokovic over the Spaniard were shattered early as Davidovich Fokina broke three times on his way to the first set, with an out-of-sorts Djokovic offering up 16 unforced errors in the frame.
A more competitive second set featured six breaks of serve, and although Djokovic failed to serve it out at 5-4, the Serb produced a stunning forehand pass to clinch the tie-break and send the match into a decider.
Davidovich Fokina, however, continued to successfully pressure Djokovic’s serve managing to break the Serb three times in the deciding set to complete the biggest win of his career in two hours and 54 minutes.
The Spaniard’s return game proved crucial to his victory as he won 45 percent (34/76) of points against Djokovic’s first serve, numbers that enabled him to break the Serb nine times in the match.
The defeat marks the first time Djokovic has lost his opening match at a tournament since falling to Marin Klizan in Barcelona in 2018.
Davidovich Fokina can equal his 2021 Monte Carlo quarter-final run with a win in his third-round clash with World No. 27 Daniel Evans or wild card David Goffin.
