Five-time tournament champions Novak Djokovic has been ousted from the Indian Wells after losing 6-7 (7/3), 6-4, 1-6 to Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel.
It was yet another disappointing return for the 30-year old as he admitted that he was out of sorts while playing in just his second event of 2018. The Serbian made a cautious return to the ATP tour after stopping his 2017 season following Wimbledon, due to a right elbow injury.
"For me, it felt like the first match I ever played on the tour. Very weird," Djokovic said. "I mean, I just completely lost rhythm, everything. Just struggled also a little bit with the health the last couple of weeks," said Djokovic after the defeat.
The Serbian scrambled to win the second set against the Japanese, but looked quite rusty on stadium court, making 62 unforced errors as compared to 29 for Daniel. The Japanese who is ranked 109th in the world, has advanced to the third round where he will face Gael Monfils of France who defeated John Isner 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/3), 7-5.
