Novak Djokovic Shocked In His First Match At Monte-Carlo Masters
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Novak Djokovic's preparations for this year's French Open took a big hit after he was stunned already in the first round of the 2025 Monte-Carlo Masters.
Djokovic never performed exceptionally in Monte Carlo. In fact, despite playing at the event 18 times, he managed to win it "only" twice, which makes it one of his worst ATP Masters 1000 tournaments.
He is also one of the players who takes time to get used to the red dirt, which he also signalled this year prior to the switch to the clay courts. But despite all of this, he was still a big favorite to beat Alejandro Tabilo in his first match at the Monte-Carlo Masters this year.
At the same time, Tabilo is a player who knows how it feels to stun the 24-time Grand Slam champion. He beat Djokovic last year at the Italian Open in Rome, and quite convincingly so, winning 6-2, 6-3.
This year in Monte-Carlo, Tabilo started with a win against a former French Open champion Stan Wawrinka, and his second-round was a player who won the clay-court major three times.
But the Chilean dealt with that draw perfectly, even though he started on the back foot. Djokovic broke already in the opening game of the match, despite being 15-40 down. But the 37-year-old didn't maintain that lead for too long.
Tabilo immediately broke back, and at 3-2, the Chilean player broke again to lead 4-2. From there, Tabilo was able to control his service games, cruising to a simple 6-3 win in the opening set.
On Wednesday, fans already saw a big favorite come back after losing the first set 3-6, as Carlos Alcaraz mounted an inspired comeback against Francisco Cerundolo.
But Djokovic wasn't able to do the same. The two-time Monte-Carlo Masters champion fell behind at the start of the second set, and it seemed that he would never have a chance to come back again.
Still, he found a way to two break points down 3-4, but couldn't convert those chances as Tabilo held on. In the following game, Djokovic saved one match point on his serve, forcing the Chilean to serve out the match.
That wasn't any issue for Tabilo, who served out the second set to win the match 6-3, 6-4, recording his second win against Djokovic.
The Serbian will now start preparations for the Madrid Open, where he will want to forget this disappointment and better prepare for the upcoming clay-court Grand Slam.
