The red clay season started in the worst way for Novak Djokovic, who was immediately eliminated at the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 due to a truly horrible performance against Alejandro Tabilo (who had already defeated him in Rome last year).

The former world No.1 – who reached the final in Miami less than two weeks ago playing excellent tennis – knew that he would have some difficulty adapting to the new surface, but it was frankly difficult to imagine such a scenario.

Nole started the match with the right effort, but his certainties crumbled after a very short time and the Chilean ace became the master of the challenge as had already happened at the Foro Italico in 2024. Monte Carlo is one of the tournaments in which the Serbian legend has struggled the most in the second half of his career, considering that he has lifted the trophy ‘only’ twice and has suffered several surprising eliminations in recent years.

A horrible loss

The 24-time Grand Slam champion – who reached the semi-finals in the Principality twelve months ago – will have to practice with considerable intensity in the near future ahead of the Mutua Madrid Open, where he will be able to count on the support of Andy Murray in his box (the former Scottish champion was absent in Monte Carlo this week).

Through his official X profile, top analyst Benoit Maylin commented with sincere concern on Novak’s recent loss: “There is no doubt that it was one of the worst versions of Djokovic that I remember. He had no intensity, he had no determination, he had no ferocity, he had nothing. I just say that he didn’t really want to play. If not, then the problem is more serious.”

With the exception of a few highs – such as at the Australian Open and Miami – Nole’s 2025 has been very similar to last season so far. Everyone knows that his main goal is Roland Garros, where he will finally try to lift the 100th title of his extraordinary career.