‘Concerned’ Djokovic to undergo scans as shock Rome exit follows bottle drama

Novak Djokovic on Sunday called his third-round elimination at the Rome Open a shock to underdog Alejandro Tabilo, two days after being hit in the head by a bottle that he said caused nausea and dizziness.

Djokovic’s bid to win a record 41st Masters 1000 title was halted in just over an hour by Chile’s Tabilo, ranked 32nd in the world and claimed his first victory against a top 10 opponent, 6-2, 6-3.

The 24-time Grand Slam winner said his subdued performance on a court where he has won six titles could be down to the blow he received while greeting fans on Friday night.

He had initially laughed off being accidentally hit in the head by a hard bottle after his simple second-round victory over Corentin Moutet, while wearing a bicycle helmet in training on Saturday morning.

“I don’t know, to be honest. I have to check that out. Training was different. Yesterday I was going to do a pretty easy workout. I didn’t feel anything, but I also didn’t feel the same thing,” Djokovic told reporters.

“Today, under high stress, it was pretty bad, not pain-wise, but balance-wise. Just no coordination. Completely different player than he was two nights ago. “

Djokovic also said he would have scans to “see what’s going on” before Roland Garros after admitting to having headaches, nausea and dizziness on Friday night.

“The way I felt on the court today was completely like a different player was getting under my skin,” Djokovic added. “It’s a little worrying.”

Djokovic’s early elimination is a blow to the final major before Roland Garros later this month, which began without Italian world number two Jannik Sinner and third-ranked Carlos Alcaraz.

Home fans were also deprived of cheering on former Wimbledon finalists Matteo Berrettini and Lorenzo Musetti, while Djokovic’s great clay-court rival Rafael Nadal, a huge crowd favorite, was knocked out in the second round on Saturday by the seventh seed, Hubert Hurkacz.

But Tabilo was a worthy winner after tearing through his superstar opponent, taking a 4-0 lead in the first set in less than 20 minutes, breaking Djokovic twice and surprising the Serb with a series of impressive winners.

The Chilean won the first set in half an hour, leaving fans sitting under the hot Rome sun stunned by the out-of-form Djokovic.

He immediately broke Djokovic for the third time in the first game of the second set and achieved the biggest victory of his career in remarkable style, scoring 22 winners, committing only four unforced errors and facing no points from break.

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