World number one Novak Djokovic suffered a shock loss in three sets to Italian Lorenzo Musetti in the third round at the Monte Carlo Masters.
Djokovic, 35, won the opening set but eventually lost 4-6 7-5 6-4 in a match interrupted by a one-hour rain delay.
It marked the biggest win of Musetti’s career and he will play compatriot Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals.
“I am struggling not to cry,” Musetti said. “It is an emotional win because it was a really long match.”
The 16th seed added: “I am really proud of myself and I can see on the screen, I am struggling not to cry because it is a dream for me.”
Serbia’s 22-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said he did not feel the defeat was “catastrophic” but added he felt “terrible” after exiting the tournament.
“I don’t think it’s catastrophic, but my feeling is bad right now because I lost the match,” Djokovic said.
“Well, [my] feeling is terrible after playing like this, honestly,” he added. “But congrats to him. He stayed tough in important moments, and that’s it. That’s all I can say.”
Two-time champion Djokovic, playing his first tournament since Dubai in early March, saw his serve broken eight times by world number 21 Musetti during the two-hour 54-minute match. He had lost serve just 17 times in his 17 previous matches this year.
Musetti’s reward for battling back against the world’s top-ranked player is a last-eight meeting with Sinner, who came back from a set and match point down to beat Hubert Hurkacz.
Seventh seed Sinner, a quarter-finalist in Monaco last year, beat the Pole 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-1.
With eight-time Olympic champion sprinter Usain Bolt present on the fifth day in Monte Carlo, Sinner rallied from the brink of defeat to overcome a fading Hurkacz, who conceded the match on a double fault.
Elsewhere, Miami Open champion Daniil Medvedev saved two match points before winning a third set tie-break in a thrilling victory over former world number two Alexander Zverev.
Third seed Medvedev, who plays Danish sixth seed Holger Rune next after Italian Matteo Berrettini withdrew with injury, fought back to win a dramatic match 3-6 7-5 7-6 (9-7).
German Zverev served for the match when leading 5-4 in the second and third sets, and failed to take two match points in the deciding tie-break, before Medvedev clinched victory with three successive points.
Defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas beat unseeded Chilean Nicolas Jarry 6-3 6-4 in his last-16 match.
However, fourth seed Casper Ruud was stunned by German qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff earlier on Thursday.
Norway’s Ruud was beaten 6-1 7-6 (8-6) by world number 100 Struff, a result which ended his nine-match winning run on clay that stretched back to July 2022.
Source – BBC Sport
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