Daijiworld Media Network- Monaco
Monaco, Apr 10: Novak Djokovic's hopes of clinching his 100th career title were dashed yet again as Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo pulled off a major upset in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters, defeating the Serbian star 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday.
This marked the second time Tabilo has stunned the 24-time Grand Slam champion, following a similar victory at the Italian Open last year. Djokovic, who returned to clay for the first time since winning the Olympic gold in Paris, admitted to being underprepared for the tough contest.
"I knew I'm going to have a tough opponent and I knew I'm going to probably play pretty bad,” Djokovic said candidly. “But this bad, I didn’t expect.”
Djokovic, who turns 38 next month, was also recently defeated in the Miami Open final by young Czech talent Jakub Mensik. With the French Open looming on May 25, concerns remain over the Serbian’s form.
Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz, the reigning French Open champion, made a strong comeback in his opening match on clay. After dropping the first set, the Spanish star rallied to beat Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo 3-6, 6-0, 6-1.
The second-seeded Alcaraz, looking to sharpen his clay-court game ahead of his Roland Garros title defence, converted five of seven break points in a commanding second and third set performance.
Tabilo, ranked outside the top 30, secured the win against Djokovic on his second match point when the Serbian sent a return long. Djokovic had saved one match point earlier with a clever drop shot, but the Chilean held his nerve to finish the job.
In other key results from Monte Carlo:
• Lorenzo Musetti overcame Jiri Lehecka 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 and will now face fellow Italian Matteo Berrettini, who had earlier ousted top-seeded Alexander Zverev.
• Daniil Medvedev battled past Alexandre Muller 7-6 (6), 5-7, 6-2.
• Fourth seed Casper Ruud cruised past Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 6-1.
• Veteran Frenchmen Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils, both 38, bowed out to Daniel Altmaier and Andrey Rublev, respectively.
The Monte Carlo Masters, the first major clay-court tournament of the ATP Tour season, is already delivering high drama and upsets as players gear up for the European clay swing and the much-anticipated French Open.