By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Did we just witness the biggest ATP Masters 1000 tournament upset of the year?
Who would’ve thought that a 20-year-old world no. 123 ranked male tennis player would take down the reigning king of the division?
On a gloomy day in Indian Wells, California, on March 12, 2024, a young Italian uprising ace named Luca Nardi pulled off the biggest win of his professional career so far after stunning Novak Djokovic- 6.4, 3.6, 6.3- during the Round of 32 clash in the ongoing BNP Paribas Open.
There was no perfect time for Nardi to unleash his best performance of the ATP Masters tournament after man-handling Djokovic in three sets.
After scoring a break-point in the opening frame, Nardi’s confidence was at an all-time high and just ramped up his intensity throughout the match.
A key weapon that the Italian utilized to pile up his points was his booming groundstroke game. Despite Djokovic’s high usage rate of his top-spin forehand returns, Nardi just kept the bombs dropping and won the battle in the baseline.
The more experienced Djokovic countered back in the second set, neutralizing Nardi’s down-the-line forehand by approaching the net several times.
With his tweaked strategy by combining the serve-and-volley and the baseline long rallies, Djokovic was able to equalize the match and had the chance to avoid the upset.
However, Nardi’s resurgence was on full display in the final set after bagging several momentum-swinging winners that gassed out Djokovic.
Nardi banked on his 71% winrate on his first service and edged Djokovic in the receiving points won department, 35-33.
With the huge victory, Nardy will be looking to advance to the quarterfinals if he cruises past Tommy Paul of the US in the Round of 16.
