Alejandro
Tabilo's victory over
Novak Djokovic marks only the second time the Serbian has
lost a match on clay without earning any break points in his favor, a feat that
not even
Rafael Nadal accomplished.
The
only other player to defeat Nole on clay without conceding any break points was
a young
Alexander Zverev, aged 20, in the final of the 2017
Rome Open. On that
occasion, the German won his first Masters 1000 trophy and entered the top 10
rankings for the first time in his career.
It was
a tough defeat for Djokovic against Tabilo
The
match favored the Chilean from the start. In just 18 minutes, Tabilo was up
4-0, and in a mere 31 minutes, he closed out the first set 6-2, winning 80% of
points on his serve and 60% of points overall.
The second set followed a
similar pattern, with Tabilo securing an early break and maintaining his lead
with impeccable serving, without facing any break points against him. Another
break in the ninth game sealed the Chilean's victory with a score of 6-3, 6-3,
in what is one of Djokovic's most painful defeats on clay.
Back
to the 2017 Rome Open
Novak
Djokovic entered the tournament as the second seed behind world No. 1 Andy
Murray. Despite an inconsistent season, Djokovic was in excellent form in Rome,
reaching the final without dropping a set, including convincing victories over
Juan Martin Del Potro (6-1, 6-4) and
Dominic Thiem (6-1, 6-0). Therefore, he
was the clear favorite going into the final against Zverev.
On the
other hand, Zverev, recently breaking into the top 20, was the surprise package
in the final. It took him just an hour and 23 minutes to overcome Djokovic 6-4,
6-3, without facing any break points against him.