The Italian Open becomes the second tournament where Novak Djokovic finds himself eliminated in the round of 32. He met world number 32, Alejandro Tabilo, and lost to the Chilean-Canadian player 2-6, 3-6. Learning of his defeat, Taylor Fritz shared an eye-catching “wow” reaction, as Djokovic is his worst opponent in the sport.

Fritz has met the Djoker 9 times on the ATP Tour and never left the court a victor. After learning someone had defeated a player who had triumphed over him in all of their meetings, the American player had a hilarious reaction. He stayed for the on-court interview after beating Sebastian Korda 6-3, 6-4. As he was made aware of Djokovic’s loss, Fritz looked to the side in surprise and said “Oh wow.”

However, it was the first match for Novak Djokovic since he unintentionally struck his head on a water bottle while signing autographs following his opening victory on Friday. He suffered a cut and bled a bit from the impact spot. Just two days after this incident, Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo claimed the biggest win of his career when he beat world number one Novak Djokovic in the third round of the Italian Open in a 67-minute match on Sunday.

When asked if the head injury is the cause for his loss, he said, “I don’t know, to be honest. I have to check that. Training was different. I was going for kind of easy training yesterday. I didn’t feel anything, but I also didn’t feel the same.” The Serbian star further said, “Today under high stress, it was quite bad – not in terms of pain, but in terms of this balance. Just no coordination.” For the first time in his career, Djokovic has left Rome before the quarterfinal. If the injury led to such results, Djokovic’s French Open run is thrown into doubt.

Tabilo defeated the number one seed on Centre Court four times without giving up a break point, while Djokovic has won the tournament six times, with his most recent victory coming in 2022. While it could be the injury, the reason behind his defeat could have a different explanation.

Did Taylor Fritz’s and girlfriend’s superstition work to trump Novak Djokovic?

The American player has never beaten Djokovic in their matches and has only won two sets in their 9 clashes. Fritz could now breathe a sigh of relief as their paths were set to cross in the semifinal of the Rome Masters, clearing the chance for Fritz to triumph. The surprise on Fritz’s face was evident as he shared the thoughts of millions of tennis fans around the world.

Recently, Fritz’s girlfriend, Morgan Riddle, shared how her beau is a superstitious person. On her Instagram story, she shared a picture of Fritz with the caption, “the face of a mf who makes us come to dinner at the same spot every single night because he gets superstitious.”

In a prior interview, she said that while she is not too superstitious, Riddle mentioned how she “wore his (Taylor) socks during that whole tournament”. She is discussing Fritz’s Indian Wells Masters 2022 victory, where he defeated Nadal. Could it be possible that their ritual worked to trump Djokovic?