ATP Masters Rome: Novak Djokovic with another early exit!
World number one Novak Djokovic is simply not getting going in 2024. At the Masters tournament in Rome, he lost to Chilean Alejandro Tabilo in two sets. Grigor Dimitrov and Taylor Fritz, on the other hand, have advanced.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit:
May 12, 2024, 05:13 pm
Tabilo, the world number 32, won 6-2, 6-3, fuelling doubts about Novak Djokovic's ability to compete in the 2024 season. The Djoker has so far fallen far short of his expectations, has not yet reached a final this season, but has suffered many early defeats.
While leftie Tabilo performed very strongly in this third round duel, with a lot of power in his shots, Djokovic hardly got a chance. And when he did, he overpowered and showed little patience overall, even between rallies. He lost his serve right at the start, and Tabilo managed an early double break. The Chilean also managed an early break in the second set, and Djokovic himself sealed the end with a double fault. He was then bid farewell with boos.
Djokovic, six-time winner in Rome, had to endure a moment of shock on Friday when a spectator's water bottle fell on his head. However, he quickly gave the all-clear, took the matter with humor and turned up for training on Saturday wearing a bicycle helmet.
Will Novak Djokovic find his way back to his old strength?
Djokovic has had a bad start to the year so far: At the Australian Open, "his" tournament, he lost in the semifinals to eventual winner Jannik Sinner, and things went even worse after that. Among other things, Djokovic lost in Indian Wells to Italian qualifier Luca Nardi. He then made it to the semifinals in Monte Carlo, but he canceled his participation in Madrid.
Tabilo, on the other hand, has already celebrated two tournament victories in 2024, at the ATP tournament in Auckland at the start of the year and at the end of April at the Challenger tournament in Aix-en-Provence. He is at his career high of 32nd place.
After his victory over Djokovic, he has now cracked the top 30 in the live rankings. He will now face Karen Khachanov in Rome.
Djokovic, on the other hand, is now heading to the French Open with some doubts, unless he accepts a wildcard for a tournament next week in Geneva or Lyon.
Grigor Dimitrov continues
Grigor Dimitrov won, beating Terence Atmane 7:6 (3), 6:3. He will also face Taylor Fritz, who beat Sebastian Korda 6:3, 6:4 - even though he needed six match points.
Nuno Borges has also advanced and could face Alexander Zverev in the round of 16. However, he must first win against Luciano Darderi in the evening.
You can read about the match in the match tracker here.
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