“I’ve been struggling to play on the desired level” – Djokovic after Indian Wells shocker

It’s not common for Novak Djokovic to lose three matches in a row but he recently did as Botic van de Zandschulp handed him a three-set upset at the 2025 Indian Wells Masters on Saturday. This was the Serb’s third straight loss after the Australian Open quarter-finals, where he famously defeated Carlos Alcaraz before retiring in the following match against Alexander Zverev.

Playing in his first Masters 1000 this year, Djokovic, the No 6 seed, displayed rusty tennis against lucky loser Van de Zandschulp, committing 37 unforced errors to lose 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 and complete a hattrick of losses—his first in nearly seven years.

Even though he, like many, voiced his discontent over the new courts at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden but also blamed himself for putting up a poor show right after facing an unfavourable result in his Doha opener against Matteo Berrettini.

“I mean, it’s always something happening, but I don’t want to talk about it,” the 24-time Grand Slam champion told the press on Saturday. “Obviously no excuses for a poor performance. Just it doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court. Just a bad day in the office for me.

“I regret for the level of tennis, considering how I practice these days. To be honest, the difference between the centre court and the other courts is immense. Ball is bouncing on the centre courts higher than some of the highest clay courts, to be honest. Yeah, just struggled a lot with that. Couldn’t find the rhythm.”

I’ve been struggling to play on the desired level.”

Novak Djokovic

In the last 15 months, the 37-year-old hasn’t won anything except the gold medal at the Paris Olympics and this was his second consecutive failure against a lucky loser at Indian Wells, having been outdone by Italy’s Luca Nardi in 2024.

“Things are different obviously for me the last couple of years,” he added. “I’ve been struggling to play on the desired level. Every now and then, I have couple good tournaments, but mostly it’s really a challenge. It’s a struggle for me.

“So it is what it is. I guess nothing can prepare you for that moment, in a sense. You have to experience it and try to deal with it in the best possible way.”

“Had my chances”

Djokovic also felt he was equally good in the initial few games of the third set against Botic van de Zandschulp on Saturday but he blundered on a couple of occasions to give it away:

“The first three games, four games of the third set were quite close. Had my chances. Was just some awful mistakes. I thought I was on most of these points in the beginning of the third.

“I don’t know, when I reflect on this match, obviously I’ll see a little bit more what, you know, I could have done more, but he played some really good points to break my serve. But just putting myself in that position, I shouldn’t allow myself to do that.”

The No 6 seed indeed fared well after levelling the scores in the second set, holding a serve to love in the second game and exchanging seven or more rallies in the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth games of the final set.

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