- Nardi defeated the No. 1, holder of the record for most Grand Slams, 6-4 3-6 6-3
- Played as a ‘lucky loser’ after losing in qualifying but replacing another player
- DailyMail.com provides the latest international sports news.
World number 123 Luca Nardi stunned Novak Djokovic in a thrilling upset in Indian Wells, as the 20-year-old Italian became the lowest-ranked player to beat the tennis icon, of whom he had posters on his bedroom wall while growing.
Using a combination of poise and power, Nardi defeated Djokovic, his childhood idol and top seed on the ATP Tour, with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory Monday night in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open.
Nardi closed his memorable victory over the record holder for most Grand Slam men’s singles titles of all time with an ace.
He then dropped his racket and put his hands to his face almost in disbelief before greeting Djokovic at the net.
Nardi set the tone early on with his hard-hitting strikes and frustrated Djokovic all night.
Italian Luca Nardi orchestrated a thrilling straight sets upset against Novak Djokovic in Cali.
Djokovic huffed and puffed against the 20-year-old Italian but couldn’t find a way past him.
The tennis number one was stunned after losing three sets in the third round to 123rd-ranked Nardi.
Nardi couldn’t hide the smile on his face after dropping an ace to end the match against ‘Djoko’
There was a moment when Nardi was surprised by an ‘in’ call and casually hit the ball over the net. It resulted in a winner and led Djokovic to complain to the referee about a potential handicap.
To think that Nardi was almost back home. He took the field as a ‘lucky loser’, which is a player who stumbled over the last obstacle in qualifying, but made the main draw replacing an injured player who withdrew before the first round.
In Nardi’s case, he replaced No. 30 Tomás Martín Etcheverry and received a bye in the first round.
Using a combination of aggression and finesse, Nardi made Djokovic, who has held the No. 1 spot for a record total of 416 weeks in a record 13 different years, smile and shake his head at times in a mix of surprise and shock.
Nardi was also far from intimidated, responding to Djokovic’s well-placed shots with well-placed returns of his own.
