It’s been a few days since Novak Djokovic’s shock exit from the Indian Wells 2024, in the hands of a young Luca Nardi. And the world is catching up to innumerable records it made and broke. One such record puts Nardi in the elite company of players like Rafael Nadal, Holger Rune, Ernests Gulbis, and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
However, even among their company, Luca Nardi still stands unique in one aspect. What exactly is this elite list about? And how is Nardi unique even there? Let’s find out.
On March 12 at Indian Wells 2024, Luca Nardi became the fifth player overall to defeat Novak Djokovic on a hard court before turning 21. The aforementioned players are the other four. But, at age 20, Nardi remains the only under-21 player to beat Djokovic while he is still world number 1. Here are some highlights about the matches when the other players beat the Serbian GOAT:
Rafael Nadal
At the 2007 Indian Wells tournament, a young Rafael Nadal was just a few months shy of celebrating his 21st birthday. Nadal won that championship that year, marking his first of three Indian Wells wins. However, in the final, it was a very formidable Novak Djokovic, someone with whom he would go on to play many more finals in the future. Federer was the topmost-seeded player, whereas Nadal was the second-seeded. Djokovic was outside the top 10 seeds at no. 12.
This was probably the earliest demonstration of the genius of Novak Djokovic to the world; a sign of times to come and the birth of a superstar. He defeated Andy Murray and David Ferrer comfortably with 6-2, 6-3, and 6-3, 6-4 scores respectively, en route to his final. In the final, however, Rafael Nadal gave him no breathing space.
Nadal won the match 6-2, 7-5. A young, fiery, fierce, and fast Nadal was too much for a still inexperienced Djokovic to handle.
Holger Rune
Another instance of Djokovic losing to an under-21 player, in more recent times, is to Holger Rune of Denmark. Rune is merely 20 years old now, and during the 2022 Rolex Paris Masters, he was only 18 when he won against Djokovic. Rune won the 2022 Rolex Paris Masters, his first Masters title and 3rd ATP title at the time.
In the final, he faced a much stronger Novak Djokovic, who was the 6th-seeded player in the tournament. The Dane lost the first set 3-6. He came back from there to win the next two sets 6-3, 7-5, and win the championship.
Ernests Gulbis
Ernests Gulbis had defeated Novak Djokovic at the 2009 Brisbane International. In a rare scenario, Djokovic was knocked out in the first round itself, when Gulbis beat him 6-4, 6-4. It was big, especially since Djokovic was the topmost-seeded player in the tournament, and Gulbis wasn’t in the Top 8.
The win over Djokovic, however, didn’t help Gulbis’ fortunes much, since the Latvian tennis star was knocked out in the second round itself. He lost to Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 3-6, 4-6. Radek Stepanek won that competition.
Stefanos Tsitsipas
In the 2018 Rogers Cup in Toronto, Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Novak Djokovic in the third round. Still under 21, Tsitsipas was the runner-up in that competition, losing 2-6, 6-7 (4-7) to Rafael Nadal. However, in the Round of 16, he beat Djokovic 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3 and sent the Serb out.
Tsitsipas was the 9th-seeded player in the tournament. These remain the only exclusive scenarios where Novak Djokovic lost to an under-21-year-old player.
