Novak Djokovic Apologizes for "Horrible" Loss at Monte Carlo

Tennis fans were shocked by Alejandro Tabilo's decisive victory over Novak Djokovic in the second round of the Monte-Carlo Masters on Wednesday.

Tabilo upset the three-seed Djokovic in straight sets: 6-3, 6-4. Tabilo has now defeated the 24-time Grand Slam champion in both of their two meetings without dropping a set.

After the loss, Djokovic did not hold back in his self-critique. He laughed off a question about it not being his best day, saying, "It was actually more like the worst day."

Djokovic continued, "I was hoping it was not going to happen. But it was quite a high probability I'm going to play this way. I don't know. Just horrible. Horrible feeling to play this way, and sorry for all the people that have to witness this."

Djokovic swatted away questions looking for an explanation for the loss, a perceived arm injury, and his eye situation. However, he warmed up as the press conference went on.

When asked about his goals for clay court season, Djokovic simply stated, "Roland Garros. That's it."

Djokovic concluded the quick presser by saying, "Well, I expected myself at least to have put a decent performance, not like this. It was horrible. I did not have high expectations, really.

I knew I was gonna have a tough opponent, and I knew I'm gonna probably play pretty bad. But this bad, I didn't expect."

After today, the first and third-seeded players are out of the ATP 1000 Masters event. Carlos Alcaraz is now facing an easier path to victory.

Djokovic is the ATP World No. 5 with a record of 12-6. Stay locked into Sports Illustrated's Serve on SI for all the most important news from tennis.

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