Rusty Djokovic dumped out of Monte Carlo
The Serb’s serve was particularly poor, with nine breaks the most he has suffered in any best-of-three-set match during his 19-year professional career
A lack of match practice and fitness caught up with Novak Djokovic at the Monte Carlo Masters on Tuesday. Unable to compete regularly this year because of his refusal to be vaccinated against Covid, the world No 1 looked well off the pace as he suffered an early exit.
Contesting only his fourth match of the season, Djokovic could not shake off the rust in a 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1 defeat by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, the world No 46 from Spain.
The Serb’s serve was particularly poor, with nine breaks the most he has suffered in any best-of-three-set match during his 19-year professional career.
Djokovic had acknowledged before the tournament — the traditional curtain-raiser to the European clay-court swing — that he was unlikely to be at his best, and there is still plenty of time on his side before the French Open begins on May 22. Yet, he did admit afterwards to some surprise at the dip in his physical capabilities.
“I didn’t like the way I felt physically in the third set,” Djokovic, 34, said. “I just ran out of gas completely. I just couldn’t stay in the rally with him. If you can’t stay in the rally, not feeling your legs on the clay, it’s mission impossible.
“I don’t like that kind of feeling I experienced in the third set, but I’m going to look with my team into reasons why that was the case and go back to the drawing board.”
After receiving a first-round bye as the top seed, Tuesday’s match marked the resumption of a full-time schedule for Djokovic.
Having been deported from Australia and barred from entering the United States because of his unvaccinated status, he is unlikely to face any further restrictions in Europe over the coming months, including at Wimbledon, which starts on June 27.
Djokovic received a warm welcome from the Monte Carlo locals, having owned an apartment in the principality for several years, and he gave them something to cheer when he battled hard to win an 85-minute second set. But ultimately he was undone in the blustery conditions by his misfiring serve, as well as 51 unforced errors.
