Tabilo knocks out Djokovic in the third round
Novak Djokovic was knocked out of the Italian Open in the third round on Sunday by Alejandro Tabilo in a stunning 6-2, 6-3 defeat for the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
Top seed Djokovic’s bid for a record-extending 41st Masters 1000 title was ended in just over an hour by Chilean Tabilo, who is ranked 32nd in the world but was hugely impressive and claimed his ¤rst win over a top-10 opponent.
The 36-year-old Serb was eliminated two days after being accidentally being struck on the head by a bottle following his straightforward secondround win over Corentin Moutet.
And his subdued performance on a court where he has won six titles suggested he may have still been suffering from that blow, even if he laughed it o¥ by wearing a cycling crash helmet to practice on Saturday.
Djokovic’s early elimination is a blow for the last major tournament before Roland Garros later this month, which started without Italian World No. 2 Jannik Sinner and thirdranked Carlos Alcaraz.
Important results: Men: Third round: Alejandro Tabilo (Chi) bt Novak Djokovic 6-2, 6-3; Grigor Dimitrov bt Terence Atmane 7-6(3), 6-3.
Second round: Stefanos Tsitsipas bt Jan-Lennard Stru§ 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-4; Andrey Rublev bt Marcos Giron 5-7, 6-4, 7-5; Holger Rune bt Luca Nardi 6-4, 6-4; Alex De Minaur bt Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3, 6-2; Daniil Medvedev bt Jack Draper 7-5, 6-4.
Women: Third round: Maria Sakkari bt Anhelina Kalinina 7-6(4), 6-0; Aryna Sabalenka bt Dayana Yastremska 6-4, 6-2; Coco Gau§ bt Jaqueline Cristian 6-1, 0-6, 6-3; Zheng Qinwen bt Linda Noskova 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.