Key area of Novak Djokovic’s game was ‘unacceptable’ during Indian Wells defeat
A key part of Novak Djokovic’s game has been described as “unacceptable” during his shock second-round defeat at the Indian Wells by a well-known coach.
Weeks after he was beaten in straight sets by Matteo Berrettini in the first round of the Qatar Open, Djokovic followed it up with an early from the ATP Masters 1000 event in California.
Facing lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp, the five-time Indian Wells champion would have fancied his chances of beating the Dutchman, but he went down 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.
The stats did not make for pretty reading as Djokovic was broken twice in the first set, once in the second and again two times in the decider.
The area where he struggled most was on his serve as he didn’t serve any aces, served four double faults and won only 63% (31/49) of points on his first serve while he was 29% (7/24) on his second serve. He also landed only 67% of his first serves compared to 71% from Van de Zandschulp.
He had some opportunities on return as he had four break points, but converted only two in the second set.
Former Russian world No 20 Dmitry Tursunov – who has coached the likes of Aryna Sabalenka, Anett Kontaveit and Belinda Bencic – says the above figures highlight why Djokovic struggled on the day, adding that 29% of points won on second serve “is unacceptable for the men’s tour”.
“I think everyone understands that Novak is far from his optimal playing form. That’s why the match didn’t go well. What’s striking is probably not a single ace, three double faults are not that critical,” he said on his Telegram channel.
“But the fact that there were no aces on the serve of one of the top tennis players is probably already a small warning sign. 67% of first serve hits is not that bad, Botik had 71%.
“The problem is rather in the percentage of winning first serve, which is 63% for Novak, 60% for Botik. That is, in this category, Novak was in the lead.
“But he has a huge gap in the percentage of balls won on the second serve – only 29% against 71% for Botik. This is unacceptable for the men’s tour. It is simply impossible to win with such a rate.”
24-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic – who is now 7-4 in terms of win-loss rate in 2025 – himself admitted that his level of tennis was poor on the day.
“Obviously no excuses for a poor performance. Just it doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court, but congratulations to my opponent. You know, just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me,” he said.
“You know, I regret for the level of tennis, considering how I practice these days. To be honest, the difference between the center court and the other courts is immense. Ball is bouncing on the center courts higher than some of the highest clay courts, to be honest.”