Upsets have been the story so far at the BNP Paribas Open, and Dutchmen are responsible for the two most notable.
One day after Tallon Griekspoor bounced top-seeded Alexander Zverev, Botic van de Zandschulp saw his compatriot’s second-round ante and raised him a win over Novak Djokovic. Van de Zandschulp stunned the 37-year-old Serb 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 after two hours and one minute of roller-coaster tennis at the Indian Wells Masters on Saturday.
Djokovic has not won a match since the Australian Open, where he retired from his semifinal match against Zverev because of a hamstring injury. The 24-time Grand Slam champion also lost right away in Dubai a couple of weeks ago (Matteo Berrettini).
“[There’s] always something happening, but I don’t want to talk about it,” Djokovic noted. “I mean, obviously (there are) no excuses for a poor performance. (It) just it doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court. But congratulations to my opponent…. He played, I think, some really good points to break my serve. But, yeah, just putting myself in that position…I shouldn’t allow myself to do that.”
As the former world No. 1 mentioned, Van de Zandschulp did play well–which is nothing new for him when it comes to facing legends of the sport over the past seven months. The world No. 85 also beat Carlos Alcaraz at the 2024 U.S. Open and Rafael Nadal at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals.
“You may have to ask those guys,” he answered after being asked about his ability to beat the game’s best. “I don’t know. I think beforehand, if I play those guys, I know I have to be there the whole match–to be mentally stable, be calm. I think I played pretty well in the rallies. I can defend. I can also attack. Go to the net. So, yeah, I think I have a [lot of] variety in my game–so maybe that’s what is bothering them.”
Van de Zandschulp’s run in Tennis Paradise is even more improbable since he lost in qualifying on Tuesday, but he ended up getting a lucky-loser spot in the main draw.
They say it’s better to be lucky than good…but it’s even better to be both!
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.