Former World No.1 And Roddick made a big prediction about
Novak Djokovic before the
Monte-Carlo Masters, which ultimately did not come true as the Serbian fell to
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in his opening round match.
Ahead of his first match since February, the 2003 US Open champion assessed the World No.1's chances at the Masters 1000 event and assumed Fokina would play right into his hands.
"I think this draw is a good one for Novak Djokovic," Roddick said on Tennis Channel. "What he wants is extended rallies, someone to not come in and kind of play awkwardly. He gets a rightie, someone who's going to play a lot of balls, put a lot of balls in the court, not come out and kind of blow him off the court - with Davidovich Fokina.
“I know Dan Evans beat him last year in Monte-Carlo, but I still like that matchup. He's going to hit a lot of returns, he's going to be in the return games."
The World No.46 had other ideas as he blasted his way through Djokovic with his lethal forehand and gobbled up any short balls. The Spaniard also took advantage of the tennis legend’s struggles on serve - winning just 45% of his service points - and was broken nine times, his most ever in a best-of-three set match.
The 22-year-old produced a fine display to register the biggest win of his career and only his second victory over a top 10 player, while Djokovic lost back-to-back matches for the first time since the Tokyo Olympics last summer.