Novak Djokovic falls to Botic van de Zandschulp in opening match at Indian Wells

There have already been some major upsets on the men's side at Indian Wells over the last few days, and now there's one more name to add to the list, maybe the biggest name: Novak Djokovic.

The 40-time Masters 1000 champion was ousted in his opening match in tennis paradise on Saturday, falling in three sets to giant-killing Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

Van de Zandschulp has now had wins over three of the biggest names in tennis in the last seven months, having defeated Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets in the second round of the US Open last August and Rafael Nadal in straight sets at the Davis Cup Finals last November.

His win over Nadal turned out to be the Spaniard's final match.

Djokovic has now lost his last three matches in a row, having fallen in the semifinals of the Australian Open (by retirement) and in the first round of Doha. It's his first three-match losing streak since 2018.

After Djokovic held serve in the opening game of the match, Van de Zandschulp made it known he was here to play, winning the next five games—and 13 points in a row at one point—for a 5-1 lead. Djokovic held to stop the streak, but Van de Zandschulp served out the set.

Djokovic retaliated in the second set, breaking en route to a 3-0 lead, and eventually stretching that out to a 5-1, double-break lead. Van de Zandschulp got one of the breaks back and held to close the gap to 5-3, but Djokovic served out the second set in the next game.

Then, after a pair of holds to start the third set, the momentum swung right back Van de Zandschulp's way, as he reeled off another five games in a row from 1-all to completely run away with it, closing it out after exactly two hours when a Djokovic forehand landed just wide.

Asked what helped him to victory, the Dutchman pointed to one thing: "I think I kept my cool during the whole match," he replied.

"Second set was very tough. He gained a pretty big lead. But I think I did well turning it to 5-3 and at least getting the momentum a little bit back, and I think I started well surviving maybe one or two games in the beginning of the third set, then I broke him and turned it around."

Van de Zandschulp finished the match with 26 winners to 25 unforced errors, and though he got broken twice in the second set, he didn't even face any break points in either the first or third sets.

Djokovic, meanwhile, had 16 winners to 37 unforced errors on the day.

Van de Zandschulp is the second lucky loser in a row to defeat Djokovic at Indian Wells—Italy's Luca Nardi was a lucky loser when he defeated the former No. 1 in the third round here a year ago.

And with the No. 6-seeded Djokovic out, four of the Top 7 men's seeds have now lost their opening matches here this year, with No. 1 seed Alexander Zverev and No. 4 seed Casper Ruud both going out on Friday, and No. 7 seed Andrey Rublev going out earlier on Saturday.

Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz and Daniil Medvedev—the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 5 seeds—are the only Top 7 men's seeds still in the draw.

The No. 85-ranked Van de Zandschulp will face No. 25 seed Francisco Cerundolo on Monday for a spot in the fourth round.