Novak Djokovic addresses blunders he makes in Monte Carlo Masters that results to his early defeat by Alejandro Tabilo, extends apology to fans “I expected myself at least to…

After losing to Alejandro Tabilo, Novak Djokovic confessed that his “horrible” performance exceeded his low expectations.

Djokovic was eliminated from the Monte Carlo Masters in straight sets by the Chilean, who has now defeated the former World No. 1 in both of their matches.

The 24-time grand slam champion produced an error-ridden showing as he embarked on the clay-court season in Monaco, struggling to find accuracy in his groundstrokes and unable to force the flow of the match.

Speaking afterwards, Djokovic conceded that he had feared a tough outing, though not quite as bad as the one he eventually produced.

“I expected myself at least to have put in a decent performance. Not like this, it was horrible,” said Djokovic, who made 29 unforced errors.

“I did not have high expectations. I knew I’m going to have a tough opponent and I knew I’m going to probably play pretty bad. But this bad, I didn’t expect.

“I was hoping it was not going to happen, but it was quite a high probability I’m going to play this way… A horrible feeling to play this way, just sorry for all the people that have to witness this.”

Djokovic played for the first time since losing in the Miami Open final against rising sensation Jakub Mensik.

That vintage performance in Florida was a much-needed bright spot in a difficult stretch for the 37-year-old, whose early withdrawal from the Monte Carlo Masters continued a troubling trend.

Djokovic has lost his first match in three of his previous four ATP Tour events, including losses to Botic van de Zandschulp at Indian Wells and Matteo Berrettini at the Qatar Open.