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The Serbian Novak Djokovic was at the losing end after 85th seeded Botic van de Zandschulp knocked the seventh seed out of the prestigious Indian Wells tournament. This loss raises many questions about the 24-time Grand Slam champions future as an elite player in the world of tennis.
Botic van de Zandschulp stuns Novak Djokovic at Indian Wells
The 37-year-old overcame a disastrous first set but could not hold his serve during the third set as the Dutch stunned Djokovic 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 in the second set of the BNP Paribas Open 2025.
This was the first match for Djokovic at the iconic Indian Wells as he was eliminated in the third round during last year's event by Italy's Luca Nardi. It came as a shocker because Nardi was ranked 123rd at that time.
This win for Botic van de Zandschulp is also one to cherish forever as he took down a big threat and also reached the third round of a Masters 1000 event for the very first time in his career. He will now lock horns with Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina in the round of 32.
The loss denied Djokovic his 410th Masters 1000 win, which would have put him next to Rafael Nadal for the most number of wins in ATP history. This also marked the third consecutive loss for Djokovic on the trot, something which has not happened since the start of 2018.
Novak Djokovic has won the Indian Wells tournament five times in his career (2008, 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2016). He holds a record of 4-5 in the last nine matches that he has played in the tournament. He didn't feature in the event from 2020-23, but returned last year after five long years only to lose his second match to Nardi.
This marks a long list of upsets in the men's draw so far at this year's BNP Paribas Open. The second seed Alexander Zverev from Germany and fourth seeded Casper Ruud were knocked out of the tournament on Friday. The seventh seed Andrey Rublev of Russia lost his match prior to Djokovic on Saturday.
