Indian Wells: Luca Nardi upset Djokovic as Medvedev, Rune, Monfils enter round 16

Luca Nardi entered the BNP Paribas Open main draw as a lucky loser and the 20-year-old couldn’t believe his luck in drawing his idol Novak Djokovic in the third round.

On Monday night, Nardi notched the biggest win of his career by beating the World No. 1, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. As the No. 123 in the PIF ATP Rankings, he is the lowest-ranked player to defeat Djokovic at the ATP Masters 1000 or Grand Slam level. He is also the fourth lowest-ranked player to beat a reigning World No. 1 at a Masters 1000.

“I think that before this night no one knew me,” Nardi said after recording just his fifth tour-level match win. “I hope that the crowd enjoyed the game. I’m super happy with this one.”

“I don’t know [how I held my nerve],” he said of the tense finish. “I think it is a miracle, because I am a 20-year-old guy, 100 in the world, and beating Novak. It’s crazy.”

The Italian, who earned his first Top 50 win by beating Zhang Zhizhen in the second round, brought his very best tennis in the first and third sets to cut short Djokovic’s stay in his first Indian Wells appearance since 2019.

Nardi has soared 27 places this week to No. 96 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, setting himself up for his Top 100 debut.

Nardi, who competed at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF last November, will continue his dream run against American Tommy Paul on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, Daniil Medvedev broke through for a 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 victory against Sebastian Korda at the Indian Wells.

Next up for Medvedev is a fourth-round showdown with 13th seed Grigor Dimitrov, who advanced on Monday with a 6-3, 6-3 win against Adrian Mannarino.

Seventh-seeded Holger Rune rode a fast start to a 6-2, 7-6(5) victory against Lorenzo Musetti on Monday afternoon to reach the fourth round in Indian Wells for the first time.

The 20-year-old Rune will next prepare for a last-16 clash with 2022 champion Taylor Fritz or the in-form Sebastian Baez.

Gael Monfils backed up his second-round upset of Hubert Hurkacz with an epic 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 6-3 win against 28th seed Cameron Norrie.

Monfils is now 20-13 in Indian Wells, where he reached the quarter-finals in 2016 and 2019. His fourth-round opponent will be ninth seed Casper Ruud or Arthur Fils.