World No.1 Novak Djokovic dealt with a great shock when he lost out against Great Britain’s Daniel Evans in the round of 16 clash at the Monte Carlo Masters. He won in straight sets 6-4, 7-5 and now will face Belgium’s David Goffin in the last eight.
Evans, who is currently ranked 33rd in the ATP rankings, has never been that kind of a force on clay courts. The Briton has only won four tour matches before entering this tournament and then he staged an upset against the World No. 1 was absolutely baffling. However, he carried good form into this game as he defeated Serbian tennis player Dusan Lajovic and young Polish prodigy Hubert Hurkacz in the first and second rounds respectively before facing Djokovic.
After the match when the Serb faced the media he admitted that it was one of his worst matches in recent times. He said, “To be honest, I mean, this has been probably one of the worst matches and performances from my side I can recall in the last years,” Djokovic said. “I don’t want to take anything away from his win, but from my side, I just felt awful on the court overall. Just nothing worked. It’s one of those days.”
Djokovic struggled with his timing throughout the match and for that, he blamed the windy conditions at Monte Carlo. He then also praised Evans for using the right ploy against him with his inch-perfect shot placing.
“Just was obviously very, very windy, tough to play in these kinds of conditions against a guy like Evans who makes you move,” Djokovic said. “He’s very unpredictable with his shots. He dismantled my game.”
The Serb continued to reflect his disappointment after a shocking loss. But he felt that he can still make up for this defeat at Monte Carlo by performing well at the upcoming clay-court events as it is a long clay season.
“I mean, I was just not feeling it, and playing pretty bad,” Djokovic said. “Obviously right now, as I walk off the court, I’m disappointed with the way I played, the way I felt on the court. But it’s a long clay season. Still plenty of tournaments, plenty of room to improve.”
