I Never Expected That Huge Defeat! Ahead Of Indian Wells, Novak Djokovic Spoke “Painfully” About His Worst Defeat In Life And Why He…

Unexpected defeats: The biggest ATP 1000 upsets of the last decade

On the ATP Tour, tournaments are designed so that the best pre-qualified players shine and animate the week of competition. However, tennis proves time and again that nothing is guaranteed. In only two days of competition, top ten players such as Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic have been eliminated. Below, we review other ATP 1000 editions where things did not turn out as the stars had hoped.

Big names have unexpectedly fallen at the start of the ‘fifth slam’. Indian Wells 2025 presents after 3 days an extremely open draw as a result of the departure of four of the top pre-qualifiers. Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev and Casper Ruud said goodbye in their debut in the desert and will have to wait until next year to try to change the image shown.

Let’s take a look at other major events and their most shocking editions in terms of premature eliminations of those who stood out as candidates to win the trophy at the time.

Indian Wells 2017: Favorites stumble in the desert

Among the most surprising editions of Indian Wells, apart from what is happening in this 2025, we find the 2017 edition as one of the most particular. Novak Djokovic was eliminated in the round of 16 by a young Nick Kyrgios (6-4, 7-6). For his part, Andy Murray, world number 1 at the time, would suffer the same fate as the Serb, and by the same score. Vasek Pospisil defeated the Briton in the first round by 6-4 and 7-6. As if this were not enough, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer would meet as early as the round of 16, and unexpectedly the Swiss was too much for Nadal, defeating him 6-2, 6-3. Federer would end up being crowned the champion of the tournament.

Miami 2018: Zverev and Dimitrov go home early

The 2018 Miami Open was also characterized by having more than one surprise. Grigor Dimitrov, then number 3 in the ATP, said goodbye in the second round of the tournament. The Bulgarian was surprised by Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, who won 6-4, 6-4.

Roger Federer would lose a dramatic first round match to Thanasi Kokkinakis. The Australian had worked his way up from the qualifying round and with nothing to lose in the opener, he played an excellent match to take the win 3-6, 6-3, 7-6;

The fall of these giants opened the field for John Isner to finally win his first and only ATP title in front of his home crowd.

Monte Carlo 2019: Rafael Nadal falls on clay

In the Monte Carlo ATP 1000, which would end up being won by Novak Djokovic (almost as usual), Rafael Nadal would surprisingly fall, although not in the early stages. The Spaniard, then number 2 in the world ranking, would be defeated in the semifinals by the number 13, the Italian Fabio Fognini. It was not only surprising that Nadal was defeated on his favorite surface, clay, but the way, as Fognini had a sublime performance and took the victory with a comfortable 6-4 and 6-2. Finally Djokovic would be the champion.

Rome 2020: Sinner appears on the scene 

At the 2020 Rome Masters there was also room for surprises. A young Jannik Sinner, just 18 years old, surprised Stefanos Tsitsipas in the round of 32. It was one of the first great victories of the Italian against top 10 opponents. The Greek arrived in Rome as the world No. 3. Lorenzo Musetti also felt comfortable playing at home and dispatched Stan Wawrinka, number 10;

Gael Monfils, the tournament’s 5th seed, would end up losing in the round of 32 to an unknown German, Dominik Koepfer.

Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman defeated Rafael Nadal (2) in the quarterfinals, another of the most unexpected results of the tournament.

Cincinnati 2022: Nadal conquered by Ruud

The Cincinnati ATP 1000, the tournament that precedes the US Open, would have to mourn the early exit of Rafael Nadal. The Mallorcan, number 2 in the ranking was defeated by Croatian Borna Coric in the round of 32 by 7-6. 4-6 y 6-3. It certainly took the crowd by surprise and would mark Nadal’s last performance at the U.S. Masters. To further shock, Coric would eventually be the event’s champion.

Norwegian Casper Ruud would also suffer the same fate at the same stage, against Ben Shelton, who took advantage of the home advantage and won a convincing double 6-3 victory over the world number 5.

Miami Open 2024: Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev fall in round of 64

At last year’s traditional Miami Open we also witnessed some striking results. Stefanos Tsisipas came into the tournament as number 10, but ran into Denis Shapovalov in the round of 64. The Canadian won convincingly by 6.-2 and 6-4.

In the same round, Andrey Rublev would also reach the end of his road in Florida. The Russian, number 5 in the world, lost against the Czech Tomas Machac by 6-4 and 6-4.

Finally, the Chilean Nico Jarry eliminated the seventh seed, Casper Ruud, in the round of 16. The champion of the event was the Italian Jannik Sinner.

Indian Wells 2025: Four of the top ten go home early

Finally, last on this list is the Indian Wells Tournament of the brand new 2025 season. There have been several victims and they could continue to accumulate, as the event is just beginning.

Alexander Zverev (2) lost a tremendous duel against Tallon Griekspoor 6-4, 7-6(5), 7-6(4). It was a battle of more than 3 hours of play.

Andrey Rublev (number 8), arrived with a lot of confidence after winning in Dubai, however, the Italian Matteo Arnaldi defeated him by 6-4 and 7-5.

Casper Ruud, fourth seed of the tournament, was defeated by local Marcos Giron in another great match by 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-2.

Finally Novak Djokovic (7), five time champion of the tournament, barely got to play a single match at the Tennis Paradise complex. Botic Van de Zandschulp took the win in three sets 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.