Fact Check: Is Luca Nardi the First Lucky Loser To Have Beaten Novak Djokovic in an ATP Tournament?

Myth: Luca Nardi became the first lucky loser to defeat Novak Djokovic on the ATP Tour

Luca Nardi sent shockwaves across the tennis world after condemning Novak Djokovic to a third-round defeat in the Indian Wells 2024. The Italian walked away with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win, only his fifth in main draws of ATP tournaments.

Ranked World No.123, Nardi had to play the qualifying rounds. After winning his first tie, he lost the qualifying match against David Goffin. Regardless, he entered the main draw as one of the three lucky losers.

He replaced #30 seed, Tomas Martin Etcheverry, hence directly going into the second round. After defeating Zhizhen Zhang, he beat Djokovic in the third round in one of the biggest upsets of recent times.

As the shock result became the talk of the town, many fans claimed that Nardi was the first lucky loser to defeat Novak Djokovic in an ATP event.

Fact: Luca Nardi’s fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego was the first LL to beat Novak Djokovic

Four years before Luca Nardi earned the biggest win of his career, his senior compatriot Lorenzo Sonego became the first to defeat Novak Djokovic as a lucky loser.

The Serb entered the Vienna Open 2020 as a wildcard whereas Sonego had to battle through the qualifying rounds for a spot in the 32-man field. The latter won the first fixture of the preliminary round, before losing the qualifying tie. The similarity with Nardi’s entry into the Indian Wells 2024 does not end here. Just like him this year, Sonego had also replaced a seeded Argentine player, coming in for Diego Schwartzman.

After getting past Dusan Lajovic and Hubert Hurkacz, then World No.42 Sonego faced Djokovic in the quarter-final. The Italian thrashed the World No.1, winning 6-2, 6-1. He would go on to finish as runner-up in the Vienna Open 2020.

Reason for myth: Famous accounts with huge follower counts shared incorrect stat

Whenever a lower-ranked player bags an upset victory over a top opponent, the hysteria and hype often see some facts get distorted. A similar story ensued here in a rush to exaggerate the gravity of the situation. It is true that Luca Nardi became the first lucky loser to beat Novak Djokovic in an ATP Masters tournament. However, a few popular tennis accounts on X (formerly Twitter) missed out on the last part, a vital element.

Journalist Jose Morgado, for instance, is a reputed figure with over 190,000 followers on the platform. He posted that Indian Wells 2024 was the first time Djokovic lost to a lucky loser.

Similarly, popular account The Tennis Letter, with more than 83,000 followers, said Nardi was the first ever lucky loser to beat Djokovic.

Many other accounts followed suit and shared this incorrect stat, spreading the myth. Sonego’s achievement from 2020 was unfortunately lost in the mix. Regardless, the fact remains that he is the first lucky loser to defeat Djokovic in an ATP tournament and Nardi, the second.