By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Novak Djokovic suffered a rare early exit in a major tennis tournament after receiving a sweeping loss at the hands of Alejandro Tabilo of Chile- 6.2, 6.3- during their Round of 32 clash in the ongoing Italian Open at Stadio Centrale del Tennis in Italy.
After dominating Corentin Moutet in the Round of 64 stage, Djokovic failed to replicate his flawless tennis performance and collapsed big time against his Chilean challenger.
It was a day to forget for Djokovic as the 24-time Grand Slam champion committed tons of unforced errors including five double faults in just a single match.
Djokovic’s five committed double faults were his most in an ATP major tournament in 2024 and only wrapped up the game with a 52% first service rating.
Tabilo immediately got the better of Djokovic after breaking his service possession twice while taking advantage of his sluggish start from the baseline.
Several ground stroke errors derailed Djokovic’s aim of a quick start and gave away a bunch of freebies for Tabilo as the game went longer.
The Chilean ace then took full control of the game after leading 1-0, pummeling Djokovic with his unorthodox baseline strokes that kept on kissing the line in the wide area.
Djokovic tried to level the game set in the second frame but once again, Tabilo shattered his hopes after scoring another break point to gain ground and cap off the match with a crucial win.
Tabilo netted a total of 54 points won in just 67 minutes of action while also topping the service points department with 32 compared to Djokovic’s 30.
With the loss, Djokovic will look to take a couple of days for rest and will return to training in preparation for the next set of ATP major events.
