Shock defeat for Djokovic on his comeback in Monte Carlo Masters
Novak Djokovic was beaten by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina as the world number one's return to the ATP Tour fell flat at the Monte Carlo Masters.
Playing for the first time since February after skipping the US hard-court swing due to ongoing Covid-19 vaccination issues, Djokovic was beaten 6-3 6-7 (5) 6-1 in just under three hours.
The Serbian faced 20 break points and was broken on no fewer than nine occasions as the world number 46 recovered from a major setback in the second set to score the best win of his career.
Djokovic is clearly in need of more match practice if he is to end a torrid year - which saw him deported prior to the Australian Open in January – by improving on his 20 grand slam titles.
A two-time winner in Monte Carlo, Djokovic was staring at a swift defeat when he lost the first set and was then immediately broken at the start of the second.
The Spaniard showed his inexperience with a needless dive at the start of the seventh game of the set, prompting injury fears and enabling Djokovic to reel off 10 points in a row as he broke back to love to wrest the upper-hand.
The momentum swung back in Davidovich Fokina's direction when Djokovic, serving for the set, conjured four unforced errors to allow his opponent to break back and ultimately force a tie-break.
But having come back from 4-2 down to win the breaker, Djokovic's recent inactivity told as he was broken three more times in a one-sided deciding set.
“I would like to congratulate Alejandro. He was the better player. He managed to find a better rhythm I think in the first two sets,” Djokovic said. “I was hanging on the ropes the entire match. I was really chasing the result constantly.”
“I always believed that I could come back and win the match, and I stayed there even though a lot of things were against me in terms of how I felt on the court. Game-wise, physically I was just far from my best,” Djokovic said.
“So of course in those types of conditions and circumstances, then you have to really work two times more than you normally would. And again, I played a claycourt specialist. He had a match already on centre court a few days ago.
“I expected this match to be [a] really tough match, [a] physical battle, and that's what it was. Unfortunately I'm on the shorter end of the stick. My week ends here .”
“I started [well] from the beginning because I knew that Nole [hasn’t played] a lot,” said Davidovich Fokina.
“Then I had to focus on every point because I had my chances from the beginning and I just did it.
“When he won the second set it was tough mentally, but I am working so hard to be more focused. It doesn't matter if I lost the second set or I lost the first set. I have to be prepared for the war.”
Earlier, Britain's Dan Evans reached the second round in Monaco after securing a 6-0 7-6 (4) win over Benjamin Bonzi of France. He will next face David Goffin of Belgium, who last week won a title in Marrakech.