Star power continues to exit the Internazionali BNL d’Italia at a furious and surprising pace.
Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz withdrew before the tournament started, while Rafael Nadal lost his second-round match against Hubert Hurkacz on Saturday. On Sunday it was Novak Djokovic’s turn to bow out, as the top seed succumbed to Alejandro Tabilo 6-2, 6-3.
With Tabilo maintaining his stellar form than has been on display throughout the season and Djokovic delivering an uncharacteristic performance from start to finish, the Chilean needed only one hour and eight minutes to score the biggest victory of his career.
“It’s incredible,” Tabilo assured. “I came on court just looking around, just trying to soak it all in and trying to process everything. I’m just trying to wake up right now.
“I was just trying to keep my nerves in, trying to keep swinging. Obviously every time you feel like you are closer to the end, your arms start to get a little tighter and you start to swing shorter, so I was just trying to not think about it and take it point by point. It’s crazy, I can’t believe what just happened.”
The world No. 32, who will face Karen Khachanov in round four, is coming off a Challenger title at what was a stacked Aix-en-Provence event last week. He also captured his first ATP title earlier this year on the hard courts of Auckland.
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nice one, Tabilo