INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) — Luca Nardi used a combination of poise and power to stun his boyhood idol and top-seeded Novak Djokovic with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win on Monday night in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open.
Nardi, who's ranked No. 123, closed out his huge upset over the No. 1 player in the rankings with an ace. The 20-year-old from Italy dropped his racket and brought his hands to his face almost in disbelief before greeting Djokovic at the net.
Setting the tone early with his hard-hitting shots, Nardi frustrated Djokovic all evening. There was a moment when Nardi was surprised by an “in” call and casually hit the ball back over the net. It resulted in a winner and led to Djokovic complaining to the official about a potential hindrance.
To think, Nardi was nearly on his way home. He got into the field as a “lucky loser,” which is a player who stumbled on the final hurdle in qualifying but made it into the main draw as a replacement for an injured player who pulled out before the first round. In Nardi's case, he stepped in for No. 30 Tomas Martin Etcheverry and received a bye through the opening round.
Using a combination of aggressiveness and finesse, Nardi had Djokovic, the 24-time Grand Slam singles champion he grew up watching, smiling and shaking his head at times in a mixture of surprise and shock.
Nardi was far from intimidated, either, answering Djokovic's well-placed shots with well-placed returns of his own.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
