Novak Djokovic’s worrying slide has continued at Indian Wells, losing to Botic van de Zandschulp in another concerning development. It came before Alex de Minaur bounced back to his winning ways, beating David Goffin 6-2 6-2 to advance.

Djokovic has now suffered consecutive losses after injuring his hamstring at the Australian Open, although he keeps declaring it’s not troubling him. The 24-time grand slam champion looked completely out of sorts against van de Zandschulp on Saturday night, and at one stage had his hat on sideways to block out the sun that was in his eyes.

Alex de Minaur, Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner.

Alex de Minaur (L) and Jannik Sinner (R) have both been boosted amid Novak Djokovic’s (centre) shock loss at Indian Wells. Image: Getty/Tennis TV
Despite righting the ship and winning the second set, Djokovic suffered a shock 2-6 6-3 1-6 loss that will see him lose rankings points. Speaking before the loss, the Serb said he was injury-free and looking to go deep at Indian Wells. Djokovic also said he was confident the return of coach Andy Murray would help, but he made a staggering 37 unforced errors on Saturday.

It marked van de Zandschulp’s eighth career victory over a top-10 opponent, seeing him earn back-to-back ATP victories for the first time this year. While Djokovic shares the record for most Indian Wells titles with Roger Federer (5), he hasn’t hoisted the trophy since 2016.

Djokovic made the semi-finals at the Australian Open in January before succumbing to a torn hamstring. He returned at the Qatar Open but lost to Matteo Berrettini in his first match, and his worrying form slump continued on Saturday night against van de Zandschulp – who came into the main draw as a lucky loser and advanced to the Djokovic clash when Nick Kyrgios retired hurt.

Remarkably, the Dutch player has now beaten all three of Djokovic, Rafa Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz in the last six months. He toppled Alcaraz at the US Open last September before beating Nadal in the Spanish champion’s last-ever match at the Davis Cup.

Novak Djokovic and Botic van de Zandschulp after their match at Indian Wells.

Novak Djokovic congratulates Botic van de Zandschulp after their match at Indian Wells. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Djokovic’s loss is a boost for Aussie star de Minaur, who is looking to surge back up the rankings after recently falling from World No.6 to No.10. De Minaur made the fourth round at Indian Wells in 2024, meaning anything better than that in 2025 will see him rise in the rankings.

The Aussie star won’t have to go through any of Djokovic, Alexander Zverev or Casper Ruud if he wants to make a deep run, while his fellow top seeds all crashing out early. Top seed Zverev was stunned by Tallon Griekspoor, while fourth seed Ruud lost to Marcos Giron. The only players ranked higher than de Minaur who are still in action are Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

As for Djokovic, his performance on Saturday was labelled “embarrassing” and “horrible”. He’ll now turn his attention to the second leg of the ‘Sunshine Double’ at the Miami Open.

Zverev’s loss ruined his hopes of taking the World No.1 ranking from Jannik Sinner during the Italian’s three-month suspension. The German is now no chance to climb high enough to take the top spot from Sinner, who will still be No.1 when he returns in May.

Griekspoor collapsed on the court after converting his sixth match point to end an absorbing three-hour, seven-minute affair, eventually prevailing 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-4). “I’m incredibly proud. It was such a mental battle to beat him,” Griekspoor said after beating the German, who had dominated their previous match-ups coming into the contest. “I beat him once but then lost the next six times, so it was such a mental thing. Happy to finally get it out of the way.”

Alexander Zverev in action against Tallon Griekspoor at Indian Wells.

Alexander Zverev suffered a shock loss to Tallon Griekspoor at Indian Wells. (Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images)

Djokovic and Zverev’s losses have Alcaraz as the firm favourite to win Indian Wells. The two-time defending champion raced into the third round earlier on Saturday with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Quentin Halys.

The World No.3 is vying to join Djokovic and Roger Federer as the only players to win three-straight titles at the ATP 1000 event in the Californian desert. “I was nervous at the beginning of the match,” he said. “The first match is never easy so I was trying to be focused on my game. I just tried to be relaxed, as relaxed as I can. Can always be better, but I’m ready for the (next) round and excited.”