Novak Djokovic eliminated as Carlos Alcaraz shrugs off early scare to progress at Monte-Carlo Masters

9 April 2025, 14:06 | Updated: 9 April 2025, 21:22

Novak Djokovic suffered a straight-sets defeat to Alejandro Tabilo, while Carlos Alcaraz shrugged off an early scare to progress at the Monte-Carlo Masters.

Chile's Tabilo handed Djokovic an unexpected 6-3 6-4 defeat on the clay court.

Although Djokovic expertly broke Tabilo in the first game of the match, Tabilo responded well grabbing three break points in the next game and converting the third.

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Tabilo broke Djokovic for a second time in the sixth game, putting him in control of the set. Errors haunted Djokovic's play and Tabilo held firm to win that first set.

Djokovic sought to fight back in the next, but squandered further opportunities to break back before Tabilo secured the crucial break and was able to then serve out the second set.

'It was horrible' - Djokovic apologies

"I expected myself at least to have put in a decent performance. Not like this. It was horrible," Djokovic said.

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

"A horrible feeling to play this way, and just sorry for all the people that have to witness this."

In his courtside interview, Tabilo said: "I just tried to remember what I did well last time [against him]. Thankfully I served well and it helped me a lot. It was an unreal match."

Tabilo will next face 15th seed Grigor Dimitrov, who recovered from a set down against wild card Valentin Vacherot to claim a 4-6 6-3 6-1 victory.

Alcaraz through after early scare

Against Carlos Alcaraz, Francisco Cerundolo won the first set only to see the Wimbledon champion roar back to take the next two and win 3-6 6-0 6-1.

"I didn't start well, I just wanted to get a good base at the beginning of the match, but I made a lot of mistakes. I think I let him play inside the court, dominate the points, so I was more in a defensive part," Alcaraz admitted afterwards.

He took over after surrendering the first set. Alcaraz did not let Cerundolo win a game in the second as he changed his approach and he ran away with the third set too.

Alcaraz said: "After the first set I knew that I had to do something else. I had to play more aggressively. I had to play my own tennis.

"I enjoy that tennis, drop shots, going to the net, playing more aggressively. I think I did it pretty well. I think the first and the most important adjustment was the return. I just tried to return closer to the line, pushing him to defend the first ball and after that playing good and dominating the game.

"I think I did pretty well."

The Spaniard will face Daniel Altmaier in the next round.

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(c) Sky Sports 2025: Novak Djokovic eliminated as Carlos Alcaraz shrugs off early scare to progress at Monte-Carlo Masters