It is difficult to imagine a World Number 1 tennis player bowing out in their first match of a tournament. Such has been the season for Novak Djokovic, World Number 1 in men’s singles. Earlier this week, the Serb bowed out of the Monte Carlo Masters, just his second tournament of the season. The rising Spanish star, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, defeated the 20-time Grand Slam champion, in three sets in Principality.

It was an impressive performance by the youngster, who fought for every point. In already a troubled year for Djokovic, this comes as a further blow to his hopes of retaining the Number 1 ranking. Earlier this year, he was denied a chance to play at the Australian Open owing to his vaccination status.

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Novak Djokovic endured mixed reactions from the crowd during his second-round match at the Monte Carlo Masters. After his defeat, he opened up about the crowd behavior during his match.

Novak Djokovic felt the crowd was great at Monte Carlo Masters

During the post-match press conference, a reporter asked the Serb how he felt about the hostile environment during his match at the tournament. However, Djokovic differed from the viewpoint of the reporter. He said, “To be honest with you, I had a completely different perception from you. I didn’t feel that they were against me. Actually, the crowd was very nice, and was good reception.”

Further, he added, “Look, I mean, they cheered for both players, some good points. He was double break up, he was playing well and look, I didn’t mind. Honestly, you know, I have had much more hostile environment in my life, in my career. So this was great. I mean, I thank them for staying three hours.”

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Playing in his first match at the tournament, Djokovic looked short on match practice against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. The 34-year-old committed a number of unforced errors. Additionally, he was weak in his service games, as his opponent won as many as 20 breakpoints during the match. Djokovic’s campaign eventually ended with a 3-6, 7-6(5), 1-6 defeat.