Novak Djokovic of Serbia reacts during his quarter-final match at the Monte-Carlo Masters in Monte-Carlo, Monaco, April 15, 2021. /CFP
Novak Djokovic of Serbia reacts during his quarter-final match at the Monte-Carlo Masters in Monte-Carlo, Monaco, April 15, 2021. /CFP
World number one Novak Djokovic crashed out of the Monte-Carlo Masters in the last 16 on Thursday following a shock 6-4, 7-5 defeat by Britain's Dan Evans.
Djokovic, the Monte-Carlo champion in 2013 and 2015, was broken five times by the 33rd-ranked Evans and suffered his first loss of the year, having won the Australian Open for the ninth time in February.
Evans, who dumped out this month's Miami Open winner Hubert Hurkacz in the previous round, will play 11th seed David Goffin for a place in the semi-finals.
Goffin beat U.S. Open runner-up Alexander Zverev 6-4, 7-6 (9/7) earlier in the day.
An out-of-sorts Djokovic produced an uncharacteristic 45 unforced errors against Evans, who hadn't won a tour-level match on clay since April 2017 before this week.
"To be honest this has been one of the worst matches from my side I can recall in the last few years," said Djokovic.
"I felt awful on the court overall. Nothing worked. Just one of those days.
"It was just an awful performance. I can't take any positives away from this match. It definitely leaves a bitter feeling exiting the court this way."
Rafael Nadal of Spain serves during his quarter-match at the Monte-Carlo Masters in Monte-Carlo, Monaco, April 15, 2021. /CFP
Rafael Nadal of Spain serves during his quarter-match at the Monte-Carlo Masters in Monte-Carlo, Monaco, April 15, 2021. /CFP
Whereas, world number three Rafael Nadal required just 55 minutes to demolish Bulgarian 14th seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-1, 6-1.
"(I am) sorry for him. He played a bad match. That is the truth," Nadal said of his opponent who was struggling with severe toothache.
"He made a lot of mistakes. I was there. I was doing the right thing, but it is true that today was more his fault than my good tennis."
The third-ranked Spaniard is the highest seed left in the draw following Djokovic's loss and the withdrawal of Daniil Medvedev after he tested positive for Covid-19.
Nadal will meet Andrey Rublev or Roberto Bautista Agut in the next round.
Fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Chile's Cristian Garin in straight sets.
The Greek will next take on Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who put out French wildcard Lucas Pouille.
Fabio Fognini, the 2019 champion, eased past Filip Krajinovic 6-2, 7-6 (7/1).
Source(s): AFP