Luca Nardi’s astonishing victory against Novak Djokovic in the third round of the Indian Wells 2024 uncovered a worrying statistic for the latter. The Serb seemingly tends to fall to a defeat largely against Italian players. Five out of his last nine losses have come against players from that country.
Featuring in Indian Wells after five years, Djokovic was among the title favorites. However, his campaign ended prematurely in the third round against lucky loser Nardi. To further emphasise his issues against opponents from this specific nation, four of his last five losses have come against players from Italy.
This statistic was shared on X (formerly Twitter) by journalist Jose Morgado, crediting Italian columnist Alessandro Cossenza. Novak Djokovic lost to Luca Nardi 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, never looking at his best throughout the tie. His last defeat before this was his Australian Open 2024 loss against Jannik Sinner.
Sinner is responsible for 3 of those 5 losses out of the last 9 that Djokovic has suffered. He beat the 24-time Grand Slam champion twice in two weeks late last year. Sinner emerged on top during his ATP Finals group stage clash against Djokovic. He followed it up with a similar result in the Davis Cup semi-final singles fixture.
This trend started when Lorenzo Musetti shocked Novak Djokovic in the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters 2023. The Italian bounced back after losing the first set to win the match. Co-incidentally, Musetti had inflicted a double bagel on Luca Nardi in the second round.
Now, at the Indian Wells 2024, Nardi will move on to the Round of 16 and face local hope Tommy Paul. Djokovic, meanwhile, will prepare for the Miami Open.
Novak Djokovic bearing the brunt of Italian tennis renaissance
The 1960s and 1970s were the golden age of men’s tennis in Italy. Iconic players Nicola Pietrangeli and Adriano Panatta were regulars in the business end of Grand Slams, even winning three French Open titles between them. The latter peaked at World No.4, the highest rank any male player from the southern European nation had achieved until Jannik Sinner came along. Italy also won the Davis Cup in 1974, which was their only triumph until again, the current World No.3 led them to another in 2023.
Sinner is the ringleader of a budding renaissance in Italian tennis. Stars from the previous generation like Matteo Berrettini and Fabio Fognini may have laid the foundation, but this younger group has tonnes of potential to outdo them. Sinner is already a Grand Slam champion, and if things go his way, could soon be the new World No.2. Lorenzo Musetti and Matteo Arnaldi complete a trio of Italians in the top 50, all aged 23 or under.
In fact, as per the Live Rankings, there are seven Italians in the top 100. This includes Luca Nardi, who is projected to rise to World No.97. Bar the 28-year-old Lorenzo Sonego, everyone in this batch is 23 or younger. Nardi and Flavio Cobolli also featured in the ATP Next Gen Finals 2023.
As this group of young stars prepare to usher in a new golden era of Italian tennis, Novak Djokovic has managed to get caught in the eye of this storm.
