“It’s a miracle,” Nardi managed to say. “I’m a 20-year-old boy, number 100 in the world, and I just beat Novak. He’s crazy.”
Before the press, the Italian said that he had not even dreamed of one day playing against Djokovic, of someone who has had a poster in his room since he was little.
“I still have it. Every night I go to bed I see Novak“he assured. “Djokovic He is the best player in history. “I will cherish this moment for the rest of my life.”
Nardi, who has barely won five matches in the ATP, entered the tournament as a “lucky loser”, the name for tennis players who lose in the preliminary phase of a tournament but then enter the main draw due to a withdrawal.
“I congratulate him, particularly for the great tennis in the third set,” declared ‘Nole’. “I didn’t know much about him, but I saw him play, and I knew he has high-quality tennis,” she added.
Nardi He played with bulletproof daring against the winner of 24 Grand Slams, hitting up to 34 winners to 17 of Djokovic.
“He deserved to win.
“I made some really terrible unforced errors. It was pretty defensive tennis.”
Djokovic, 36 years old, thus adds a second disappointment at this start of the season after his elimination in the semifinals of the Australian Open against another Italian rival, Jannik Sinner.
The Serbian, who adjusts his schedule to the maximum, said that for the moment he plans to compete in the Miami Masters 1000 which starts next week.
After the last-minute resignation of Rafael Nadal, the first Masters 1000 of the year will enter the round of 16 today with Sinner and the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz as the main favorites. Daniil Medvedev also wants to get into that fight, who fell in the 2023 final against Alcaraz.
The Russian, Fourth ranked, he worked too hard to defeat the young American Sebastian Korda 6-4, 5-7 and 6-3 in a chaotic duel with up to 15 breaks.
Medvedev, runner-up in January at the Australian Open, had taken the knee in his last two matches against the son of former Czech tennis player Petr Korda.
Latin American tennis was left without representatives with the elimination of Argentine Sebastián Báez against local figure Taylor Fritz by a double 6-2 in just 69 minutes.
The Californian, champion of the tournament in 2022, will meet in the round of 16 with the young Dane Holger Rune, seventh seed.
In it WTA 1000, where there are no Latin American rackets left either, the American Coco Gauff got into the round of 16 with a convincing victory against the Italian Lucia Bronzetti by 6-2 and 7-6 (7/5).
The winner of the past US Open, who will turn 20 tomorrow, remains intractable on American soil with 18 consecutive wins that have given him three titles so far. His next rival will be lto Belgian Elise Mertens, that fired the Japanese Naomi Osaka by 7-5 and 6-4.
Osaka, former world number one and champion in Indian Wells in 2018, was fighting to string together three victories in a row for the first time since her return to the courts at the beginning of the year after motherhood.
On her side, Aryna Sabalenka, second ranked, eliminated the British Emma Raducanu 6-3, 7-5.
Results 3rd round
Men
Luca Nardi (Italy) defeated Novak Djokovic (Serbia) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
Tommy Paul (USA) beats Ugo Humbert (France) 6-4, 6-4
Casper Ruud (Norway) beats Arthur Fils (France) 6-2, 6-4
Gael Monfils (France) defeats Cameron Norrie (Great Britain) 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5), 6-3
Daniil Medvedev (Russia) defeats Sebastian Korda (United States) 6-4, 5-7, 6-3
Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) beats Adrian Mannarino (France) 6-3, 6-3
Taylor Fritz (United States) defeats Sebastián Báez (Argentina) 6-2, 6-2
Holger Rune (Denmark) defeats Lorenzo Musetti (Italy) 6-2, 7-6 (7/5)
Women
Marta Kostyuk (Ukraine) defeated Markéta Vondrousová (Czech Rep.) no-show
Yue Yuan (China) to Caroline Dolehide (USA) 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2)
Daria Kasatkina (Russia) defeats Sloane Stephens (USA) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
Elise Mertens (Belgium) defeats Naomi Osaka (Japan) 7-5, 6-4
Cori Gauff (USA) beats Lucia Bronzetti (Italy) 6-2, 7-6 (7/5)
Diane Parry (France) beats Anna Blinkova (Russia 6-4, 6-3
Maria Sakkari (Greece) defeats Caroline Garcia (France) 6-3, 6-4
Emma Navarro (USA) defeats Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
Aryna Sabalenka (Bulgaria) beats Emma Raducanu (Great Britain) 6-3, 7-5
Source: Ambito
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
