NoIndian summer asNovak stumbles

NOVAK DJOKOVIC admits he felt like a rookie rather than a five-time winner as his return at Indian Wells ended in a shock defeat.

The Serb lost 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 6-1 to world No.109 Taro Daniel at the BNP Paribas Open on his comeback from surgery on an elbow injury.

The second-round defeat was his first appearance since crashing out of the Australian Open in January after a six-month lay-off.

Not since 2012 has he lost two in a row at ATP Tour level and Djokovic said: “It felt like my first match on the Tour – very weird.

“I was not even supposed to be here because of surgery only five, six weeks ago.

“I just completely lost rhythm and also struggled a little bit with health the last couple of weeks.

“I was grateful to be out on court after surgery that quickly but at the same time just didn’t feel good at all.”

British No.1 Kyle Edmund lost 6-4 6-4 to Israel’s Dudi Sela in his first match since reaching the Australian Open semis after a hip injury.