NOVAK DJOKOVIC WAS knocked out in the last 16 of the Monte Carlo Masters by Lorenzo Musetti in three sets after the world number one struggled badly on serve.
Djokovic, a two-time winner in the Principality in 2013 and 2015, was broken eight times before going down 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 on a wet and chilly day on the Cote d’Azur.
“(The) feeling is terrible after playing like this, honestly. But congrats to him. He stayed tough in important moments, and that’s it,” said Djokovic.
The Serb led by a set and a break against Musetti, but the Italian youngster fought back in a scrappy second set and then prevailed in the decider after rain interrupted the match for an hour.
Musetti, ranked 21st, advances to a quarter-final meeting with compatriot Jannik Sinner, who saved a match point before beating Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 3-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-1.
Djokovic, the big favourite in the absence of Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, surged 5-2 ahead in the opening set. He dropped serve as he tried to close it out before breaking Musetti for a third time.
The top seed again looked in control at 4-2 in the second but was broken to love in a game that started with Djokovic justifiably unhappy over a line call that went against him.
Musetti won the next three games, successfully serving for the second set at the second attempt after blowing his chance while leading 5-4.
A rain shower early in the deciding set forced play to be suspended, with Musetti landing the decisive break to go 5-3 up and eventually sealing victory on his fourth match point.
Djokovic has not gone beyond the last eight in Monte Carlo since 2015.
“I don’t think it’s catastrophic, but my feeling is bad right now because I lost the match. That’s all,” said Djokovic.
“It’s not a great day for me, so I’m not really in the mood to speak.”
Meanwhile, professional women’s tennis tournaments will resume in China in September after a 16-month boycott over concerns for the safety of Chinese player Peng Shuai, the WTA announced on Thursday.
The former doubles world number one has not been seen outside China since first making, and then withdrawing, accusations of sexual assault against a high-ranking official.
“In 2021, when Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai bravely came forward, the WTA took a stance and suspended its operation of events in China out of concern for her safety and the safety of our players and staff,” it said.
But the WTA, the body that runs women’s professional tennis, admitted its “principled stand… a powerful message to the world” had not been able “to bring about change”.
“After 16 months of suspended tennis competition in China and sustained efforts at achieving our original requests, the situation has shown no sign of changing,” the WTA said.
“We have concluded we will never fully secure those goals, and it will be our players and tournaments who ultimately will be paying an extraordinary price for their sacrifices.
“For these reasons, the WTA is lifting its suspension of the operation of tournaments in the People’s Republic of China and will resume tournaments in China this September.”
Peng, a former world doubles number one, had alleged in a social media post that a former Chinese vice-premier had forced her into sex during a relationship of several years, but has since twice denied she accused anyone of sexual assault and described the situation as a “huge misunderstanding”.
China has represented a large share of the WTA’s revenue in the past decade and the organisation has suffered deep financial losses since Chinese tournaments were initially cancelled due to Covid-19 in 2020.
The WTA’s decision to return means the closing stages of the women’s tennis season will again be focused on China.
The season-ending WTA Finals will resume its 10-year deal with the city of Shenzhen.
French player Caroline Garcia, the world number five, said she understood why the WTA was making a “very important” return to China.
“The ATP and the ITF (International Tennis Federation) were already going back, and women’s tennis is following,” she told the BBC.
“In the past we have had some huge tournaments over there and I think it is an important swing for us in our calendar and I’m looking forward to it.”
