Novak Djokovic suffers shock loss to Alejandro Tabilo in Rome following head injury

ROME, Italy—Novak Djokovic suffered a shock defeat in the third round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Sunday, losing to Alejandro Tabilo, 6-2, 6-3.

"I just wasn't able to find any kind of good feelings on the court, to be honest, with striking the ball," Djokovic said in his post-match press conference. "Yeah, I was completely off."

Playing his first match since suffering a bizarre head injury on the conclusion of his opening-round victory over Corentin Moutet, the world No. 1 was overwhelmed by the No. 29 seed in one hour and seven minutes on Campo Centrale. For Tabilo, it is the biggest win of his career in his first attempt at a Top 5 player.

"It's incredible," Tabilo said on court. "I came on court, just looking around and trying to soak it all in, trying to process everything. Now, I just can't believe. I'm trying to wake up right now!"

Doubts initially swirled whether Djokovic would be able to compete after getting hit by a falling water bottle while signing autographs on Friday evening. The top seed was escorted off court by security and was excused from his post-match press conference, later updating fans on social media of his condition.

"Thank you for the messages of concern," Djokovic posted on Twitter/X following the incident. "This was an accident and I am fine resting at the hotel with an ice pack. See you all on Sunday. #IBI24"

In fact, Djokovic seemed to take the injury in stride when he arived to practice on Saturday wearing a bicycle hemet, which he affixed atop his cap to sign autographs after practice.

Looking to score his 1100th career victory against Tabilo, the 24-time Grand Slam champion, who recently announced his split from longtime coach Goran Ivanisevic and fitness coach Marco Panichi, emerged on court a step slow against an on-fire 26-year-old who earned his career-high ranking of No. 32 last week.

Fresh off an ATP Challenger victory in Aix-en-Provence, Tabilo edged through his opening-round win over Yannick Hanfmann and set to work on Djokovic, racing through the opening four games with some explosive lefty serving and firepower off the ground.

"I was just trying to keep my nerves in, keep swinging. Obviously every time you feel like you're closer to the end, your arm starts getting a little tighter, and you swing shorter. I was trying to not think about it, and take it point by point. It's crazy. I can't believe what just happened!"

Though Djokovic was able to get on the board, Tabilo proved impenetrable on serve, serving out the first set at love behind 11 winners to seven unforced errors.

The second set began in similarly emphatic fashion for Tabilo, who roared back from 30-0 down to break Djokovic behind a double fault and quickly consolidated to put himself up a set and 2-0.

Djokovic made his first push on the Tabilo serve in the sixth game, tracking a drop shot to open up a 15-30 lead, but the Chilean responded with strongly struck serves and forehands to bring the game back on his terms.

Responding with a strong hold of his own, Djokovic fended off another double-break deficit but Tabilo stayed the course, serving to put himself a game from victory to put the pressure back on the six-time Foro Italico champion.

The Campo Centrale crowd sat in stunned silence as Djokovic fell behind 0-30 and missed wide off the forehand side to pull up a match point. One last double fault from Djokovic confirmed the upset for Tabilo, who will next face No. 16 Karen Khachanov for the chance to reach his first-ever Masters 1000 quarterfinal.