Nardi said it was “crazy” to have beaten the 24-time Grand Slam champion and his tennis idol after qualifying for the match as a lucky loser.
Luca Nardi used a combination of poise and power to surprise his childhood tennis idol and top seed Novak Djokovic with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells , California.
Nardi, number 123 in the ranking, closed the big surprise for the world number with an ace and a look of disbelief on Monday night.
The 20-year-old Italian dropped his racket and put his hands to his face before greeting Djokovic at the net.
“Before tonight, no one knew me,” Nardi said in an on-court interview after his victory.
“I hope the crowd enjoyed the game; “I’m super happy with this one.”
Nardi lost his main draw qualification match, but eventually entered thanks to a player's withdrawal. He received a bye during the first round.
“He came in as a lucky loser in the main draw, so he really had nothing to lose,” Djokovic said of Nardi.
“I deserved to win. I was more surprised by my level. My level was really very bad. That's it, these two things come together: you're having a great day; “I’m having a really bad day.”
The Italian ended the streak of 11 consecutive victories of the Serbian veteran, whose poster had hung above his bed since he was eight years old.
But the young player was unimpressed by Djokovic's strong play and broke him to take a 4-2 lead in the deciding set before claiming victory three games later with an ace on match point.
The Italian finished with 36 winners and 41 unforced errors, while Djokovic made 31 errors in just under two and a half hours.
“This is a miracle,” Nardi said in a post-match interview on the Tennis Channel.
“I am a 20-year-old boy, 100 in the world and I am beating Novak. Crazy. Crazy.”
That feeling when you beat the number 1 in the world 😋@Luca___Nardi | #TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/0NiHD1ZPKQ
— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 12, 2024
Nardi set the tone early on with his hard-hitting strikes and frustrated Djokovic all night. There was a moment when Nardi was surprised by an “in” call and casually hit the ball over the net. It resulted in a winner and led Djokovic to complain to the referee about a potential handicap.
Nardi has become the lowest-ranked player to beat Djokovic at a Grand Slam or ATP Masters 1000-level event, surpassing Kevin Anderson (ranked 122) in 2008 in Miami.
He will now face American Tommy Paul in the round of 16.
When asked what he thought about his opponent at the post-match press conference, Nardi seemed nonplussed.
He responded with: “Tommy Paul for what? Do I play against him? Oh really?”
The surprised Italian added that he had not checked the tie, presumably because he was out of the tournament.
“Thank you for letting me know,” Nardi said to laughter from the media.
Your round of 16 at Indian Wells 🌴
🇮🇹 Nardi against Paul 🇺🇸
🇳🇴 Ruud vs. Monfils 🇫🇷
Medvedev against Dimitrov 🇧🇬
🇺🇸 Fritz vs Rune 🇩🇰
🇨🇿 Lehecka vs. Tsitsipas 🇬🇷
🇺🇸 Shelton vs. Sinner 🇮🇹
🇩🇪 Zverev vs. by Minaur 🇦🇺
🇭🇺 Marozsan vs. Alcaraz (📸) 🇪🇸@BNPPARIBASOPEN | #TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/jRIFXSt371— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 12, 2024
