It was a really bad day at the office for Novak Djokovic at the Italian Open. Considering how consistent he has been over the past decade in terms of notching up victories from difficult situations, his performance today against Alejandro Tabilo should definitely be an anomaly.

In his efforts to enter Roland Garros with maximum confidence, Djokovic entered Rome with lots of hope. Considering his record at Fora Italica as a six-time champion, his decision makes all the sense in the world. One of the clear favorites, Djokovic easily clinched his opening match against Corentin Moutet.

His third-round opponent Alejandro Tabilo (another lefty similar to Moutet) on the other hand had different plans. With a surreal performance, Tabilo racked up the biggest win of his career by defeating Djokovic in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3. While Tabilo should definitely be lauded for his effort, the world no.1 looked unsettled right from the start.

Maybe it was Tabilo’s lefty forehand that reminded him of a certain rival or he was just not in his element today, multiple reasons can be attributed to the Serb’s loss today. One such explanation came from American tennis legend Chris Evert, who is currently recovering at home after announcing a cancer diagnosis earlier this year.

“Novak having a hard time getting mentally engaged:low on patience and not looking over at team. It happens! Will he find his game and mentality today? Keep watching!,” Evert tweeted while the match was dominated by Tabilo.

Tabilo seemed out of it himself, disbelieving of his victory, “It’s incredible. I came on court just looking around, just trying to soak it all in and trying to process everything. I’m just trying to wake up right now.” He further told ATP.com, “I was just trying to keep my nerves in, trying to keep swinging…It’s crazy, I can’t believe what just happened.”

While the Chilean-Canadian is to be applauded, the Djoker is disappointing after a spectacular 2023.

Novak Djokovic failed to live up to expectations at the Italian Open

After losing the first, Djokovic was also down a break in the second, and having seen the Serb play over the year, Evert and even millions of fans would have been expecting a heroic comeback from Novak at some point. However, as it turns out, Djokovic couldn’t pull off one of his super-human feats today.

As Evert said, it was just not his day today. Taking attention away from Djokovic, all due credit to Alejandro Tabilo for taking advantage of the Serb’s vulnerability and registering the biggest win of his ATP career. The 26-year-old will be on cloud nine and so are his supporters from Chile.

With Rafael Nadal already gone and Novak Djokovic struggling to find form, the French Open contender debate will surely turn interesting. Who do you think will emerge victorious in Paris?