Djokovic eliminated in Monte Carlo quarterfinals

The second seed lost to David Goffin 2-6, 6-3, 5-7 and continued his early exit from a major tournament this year.

This is the fourth consecutive tournament that Novak Djokovic has failed to reach the semi-finals. Previously, he was eliminated in the fourth round of Indian Wells, the quarter-finals of the Mexico Open and the third round of the Australian Open.

Djokovic fell at the beginning of the second set. Photo: Reuters.

In his five previous encounters with Djokovic, Goffin had only won one set. However, the Belgian surprised his opponent by quickly overwhelming him. Goffin chose to play close to the baseline and actively finish the ball early, aiming for winners. He broke in the first and fifth games of the first set and took just 30 minutes to take the lead.

In the second game of the second set, Djokovic fell hard. He slipped while trying to return a forehand. The Serbian rolled around on the court and dirt covered his back, arms and legs. Djokovic then took a long time to clean the dirt off his body.

Down 15/40 in the third game, Djokovic equalized and then scored 11 consecutive points to lead 4-1. Goffin saved two set points when down 2-5 but lost the next game and Djokovic equalized the match.

Djokovic took the lead in the deciding set. He broke in the first game and almost led 3-0 if he hadn't turned away two break points. In the sixth game, which lasted 20 minutes, Djokovic saved five break points. However, Goffin won the next three games to lead 5-4.

At this point, the psychological advantage belonged to the Belgian while the pressure was on Djokovic. In the 11th game, when he was down 5-6, Djokovic saved two match points and had two more but missed them. In the 14th point of the game, Djokovic was penalized for being late in getting the ball into play on his first serve. 60 seconds later, the world number two hit a backhand into the net, ending the match that lasted two hours and 38 minutes.

This defeat shows that Djokovic is not yet ready to return to the peak form that once helped him dominate the Masters 1000 tournaments. As for Goffin, his opponent in the semi-finals is the winner of the match between Diego Schwartzman and Rafael Nadal.

According to VNE