Novak Djokovic was booed and smashed a racket during his shock Monte-Carlo Masters exit to Lorenzo Musetti on Thursday.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion headed to the Masters 1000 series event as the top seed – looking to secure vital ranking points and cement his spot at the world No.1 – but crashed out in the third round to world No.21 Musetti.
Djokovic claimed the first set but Italy’s Musetti battled back to claim the biggest win of his career and end the Serbian’s 32-match win streak against players ranked outside the top 20.
The 35-year-old was booed and jeered by spectators in Monte-Carlo for arguing a ball mark with the chair umpire and he later received a racket abuse warning in front of what appeared to be a heavy Italian crowd, mainly rooting for Musetti.
Djokovic stomped on his racket as he retreated to his bench at one of the changeovers and bended it in half having been broken by the 21-year-old.
Following Musetti’s remarkable 4-6 7-5 6-4 victory, Djokovic said he ‘wasn’t in the mood to speak’ in what is a significant defeat in the build-up to the French Open.
‘Well, feeling is terrible after playing like this, honestly,’ Djokovic said. ‘But congrats to him.
COMING OF AGE ð
21-year-old @Lorenzo1Musetti stuns world No.1 Djokovic for the biggest win of his young career!#RolexMonteCarloMasters pic.twitter.com/pmzMlQIQmK
‘He stayed tough in important moments, and that’s it. That’s all I can say. Good luck to him.
‘You always hope for the good day in the office, but yeah, I know I’m not playing so great and he’s playing very well, so I knew it was going to be a tough match.
‘My feeling is bad right now because I lost the match. That’s all. Congrats to my opponent. I move on.’
Quizzed about the elbow strap he was wearing, with rumours over an injury, Djokovic cut off a journalist’s question and added: ‘I cannot say nothing. I’m okay. I’m fine. Congrats to him. We move on.’
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