Djokovic suffers rare defeat as bottle incident leads to shocking downfall

Novak Djokovic has spent the past decade building his case to be regarded as the greatest tennis player of all time. He has been involved in countless memorable matches, weaving himself into the fabric of history. Moreover, his dominance has resulted in some truly exceptional accomplishments. Whenever Djokovic is in the spotlight, the conversation invariably turns to who could potentially halt the progress of this 24-time Grand Slam champion and prevent him from amassing even more silverware.

Surprisingly, we now have an unexpected answer to that question: a water bottle. Just days after an accidental encounter with this seemingly innocuous object, Djokovic struggled to find his usual rhythm against Alejandro Tabilo, ultimately succumbing to a stunning defeat at the Italian Open on Sunday. The Chilean, ranked 29th in the world, effortlessly secured victory in only 67 minutes, clinching the third-round match with a one-sided scoreline of 6-2, 6-3.

The incident occurred on Friday after Djokovic's victorious match against Corentin Moutet, where he secured a 6-3, 6-1 win. As he left the court, Djokovic took a moment to sign autographs for his fans near the tunnel. It was during this interaction that a water bottle unexpectedly slipped out of a fan's backpack and tumbled from the stands, landing squarely on top of Djokovic's head. 

Upon impact, the world No. 1 instinctively grabbed his head and subsequently knelt down on the court, clearly affected by the strike. With assistance, Djokovic was guided through the tunnel and back to the locker room. Later, he took to social media to inform his followers that he was resting with an ice pack at his hotel to alleviate the discomfort caused by the bottle.

Following his surprising loss to Tabilo, Djokovic revealed to reporters that he was still experiencing the consequences of the water bottle impact, including feelings of "nausea, dizziness," and "visible signs of blood" immediately after the incident.

"I managed to sleep OK, I had headaches. The next day was pretty fine, so I thought it's OK. Maybe it is OK, maybe it's not," he added. "The way I felt on the court today was just completely like a different player entered into my shoes. Just no rhythm, no tempo, no balance whatsoever on any shot. It's a bit concerning."

Djokovic has now suffered a rare defeat to an opponent ranked outside the top 10 at the Italian Open, a tournament where he had previously never exited before the quarterfinals. The six-time champion's performance was uncharacteristically subdued, managing only 14 winners while committing 12 unforced errors, serving five double faults, and failing to create a single break point opportunity in Sunday's match. 

On the other hand, Tabilo, having achieved what many others have tried and failed to do countless times, perfectly captured the prevailing sentiment by expressing his disbelief, beaming, "I can't believe what just happened."