Staff Reporter.
Novak Djokovic suffered his third straight defeat as Dutch lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp pulled off a shock victory in the second round at Indian Wells.
Djokovic fell to lucky loser Luca Nardi of Italy in the California desert last year and history repeated itself a day after top seed Alexander Zverev also went out.
After his withdrawal from Australia, his loss in the opening match at Qatar Open and his stunning defeat to the Dutchman, Djokovic is now on a three-match losing streak.
“You know, things are different obviously for me the last couple of years,” said Djovokic, who hit just 16 winners to 37 unforced errors. “I’ve been struggling to play on the desired level.
“Every now and then, I have a couple of 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.”
The Serbian came out flat against the tournament lucky loser, who took full advantage of a blizzard of errors from the 24-time Grand Slam champion to capture the first set.
Djokovic raised his level to grab the second but Van de Zandschulp, who lost to Matteo Gigante 7-5 6-0 in the final round of qualifying, refused to back down, running away with the decider before the sold-out crowd.
In the WTA event, World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka edged out American McCartney Kessler 7-6 (7-4) 6-3.
The Belarusian was in full command of her formidable serve and never faced a break point while crushing six aces and winning 90 per cent of her first serve points.
She sealed the win with a pair of deft backhand volleys on match point to set up a meeting with unseeded Italian Lucia Bronzetti in the third round on Monday.