Djokovic knocked out of Monte Carlo by Evans in last 16
Djokovic knocked out of Monte Carlo by Evans in last 16
MONTE CARLO (AFP) - World number one Novak Djokovic crashed out of the Monte Carlo Masters in the last 16 on Thursday following a shock 6-4, 7-5 defeat by Britain s Dan Evans.
Djokovic, the Monte Carlo champion in 2013 and 2015, was broken five times by the 33rd-ranked Evans and suffered his first loss of the year, having won the Australian Open for the ninth time in February.
Evans, who dumped out this month s Miami Open winner Hubert Hurkacz in the previous round, will play 11th seed David Goffin for a place in the semi-finals.
Goffin beat US Open runner-up Alexander Zverev 6-4, 7-6 (9/7) earlier in the day.
An out-of-sorts Djokovic produced an uncharacteristic 45 unforced errors against Evans, who hadn t won a tour-level match on clay since April 2017 before this week.
"To be honest this has been one of the worst matches from my side I can recall in the last few years," said Djokovic.
"I felt awful on the court overall. Nothing worked. Just one of those days.
"It was just an awful performance. I can t take any positives away from this match. It definitely leaves a bitter feeling exiting the court this way."
