The Dutch player who toppled Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open last year before beating Rafael Nadal in Davis Cup in the Spanish great’s last match, beat 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

The Serb star, seeded sixth, joined world number two and top seed Alexander Zverev and fourth seed Casper Ruud in exiting in the second round.

Thirty-seven unforced errors were too much for Djokovic to overcome. After 14 in the first set he cleaned things up in the second, grabbing a quick break on the way to a 3-0 lead.

Djokovic pumped his fist after belting a forehand winner to the corner for his first break chance of the match and after consolidating the break nodded his head in satisfaction.

However, van de Zandschulp wasn’t about to go quietly and the rallies remained tense affairs.

Trailing 0-40 in the sixth game of the second set, Djokovic clawed out another break in a game that went to deuce five times, but he was broken as he served for the set, gifting van de Zandschulp a third break opportunity with a forehand miss.

Clearly frustrated at times, Djokovic muscled a forehand winner to the baseline to secure the second set and level the match.

It was only a brief respite. Van de Zandschulp kept the pressure on both from the baseline and at the net and Djokovic’s errors began to pile up again.

Van de Zandschulp took control in the third with a break for 3-1. He dived for an unlikely winner to open the game before Djokovic missed an easy volley. Unable to convert his first break chance, van de Zandschulp gave himself another with a stinging volley and caught Djokovic in midcourt with a lob.

Djokovic couldn’t stop the bleeding as van de Zandschulp reeled off the last five games.

With his eighth victory over a top-10 opponent, van de Zandschulp has earned back-to-back ATP victories for the first time this year.

While Djokovic shares the Indian Wells record of five titles with Roger Federer, he hasn’t hoisted the trophy since 2016.

He hoped the coaching of former rival Andy Murray would help him go deep this year, but instead it was an even earlier exit than in 2024 — when he lost to lucky loser Luca Nardi in the third round.

© 2025 AFP