Novak Djokovic lost his third consecutive match after being unexpectedly defeated by Dutch player Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round at Indian Wells.
As per BBC Sports, Djokovic, the seventh seed, played below his usual level and lost the match with set scores of 6-2, 3-6, and 6-1 to Zandschulp.
After Djokovic’s big win against Carlos Alcaraz in the Australian Open quarter-finals, he has lost three consecutive matches, one to Alexander Zverev in the Australian Open semi-finals, one to Matteo Berrettini in Doha and now to Zandschulp at Indian Wells.
While congratulating his opponent, Djokovic acknowledged his defeat by saying, “Congratulations to my opponent. It was just a bad day in the office, I guess.”
The 24-time Grand Slam champion said, “Things are obviously different for me in the last couple of years. 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,” the player added.
Djokovic won only one title last year which was the Olympic gold medal he had long desired.
Additionally, for the first time since 2017 he did not win any Grand Slam tournaments.
