The reaction to Novak Djokovic’s shock defeat to Botic van de Zandschulp continues as the Indian Wells draw opens up.
Djokovic was beaten by Van de Zandschulp in three sets in his opening match at Indian Wells this year.
This was the second year that the Serbian had lost to a lucky loser at Indian Wells, with Djokovic making unwanted history by doing so.
It has been a difficult month for Djokovic, who has continued his poor form and done something for the first time in seven years with his latest defeat.
Dmitry Tursunov reacts to Novak Djokovic’s defeat at Indian Wells
After beating the 24-time Grand Slam champion, Van de Zandschulp admitted he noticed Djokovic’s errors during their match.
The Dutchman is by no means a pushover, with Van de Zandschulp beating Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal in the past year to go with his latest scalp.
However, former top 20 player and previous coach of Aryna Sabalenka, Emma Raducanu and Belinda Bencic, Dmitry Tursunov, has explained what he thinks contributed to Djokovic’s downfall against Van de Zandschulp.
“I think everyone understands that Novak is currently far from his best form,” Tursunov told Championat. “That’s why the match didn’t go well. What is striking is that Novak didn’t hit a single ace. Three double faults is not that bad.
“But the fact that there was no ace on the serve of one of the best tennis players is probably already a small warning sign. 67% of first serves is not so bad, Botic had 71%. The problem is rather in the percentage of winning serves, which is 63% for Novak and 60% for Botic behind the first ball.
“That is to say, in this category, Novak was in the lead. But there is a huge gap in the percentage of points won on the second serve – only 29% for Djokovic compared to 71% for Van De Zandschulp. This is not allowed on the men’s circuit. With such an indicator, it is simply impossible to win.”
This is a familiar story to his loss at the Qatar Open, with Djokovic being beaten by Matteo Berrettini after winning only 30% of his points on second serve.
What is next for Novak Djokovic?
Djokovic is next scheduled to play at the Miami Open, and was asked about this in his post-match press conference following his defeat to Van de Zandschulp.
However, the 37-year-old remained tight-lipped, with Djokovic set to talk to coach Andy Murray about his scheduling plans.
“Yeah. I mean, still haven’t talked with Andy and the team, so going to do that and make a plan,” Djokovic told the media at Indian Wells.
Djokovic is a joint record holding six-time champion at the Miami Open alongside Andre Agassi, but has not played at the second tournament in the sunshine double since 2019.
If he is to make his long-awaited return to the Floridian Masters 1000 tournament, Djokovic will be part of the Miami Open main draw that gets underway on Wednesday March 19.
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