Novak Djokovic at Indian Wells by lucky loser Luca Nardi, 6-4 3-6 6-3

World No. 123 Luca Nardi stunned Novak Djokovic in a thrilling match at Indian Wells as the 20-year-old Italian became the lowest-ranked player to beat the tennis icon, posters of whom he had on his bedroom wall growing up.

Using a combination of poise and strength, Nardi defeated Djokovic – his childhood idol and the best player on the ATP tour – with a 6-4 3-6 6-3 win on Monday evening in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open.

Nardi capped his memorable win over the record holder for the most all-time Grand Slam men’s singles titles with an ace.

He then dropped his racket and raised his hands to his face almost in disbelief before greeting Djokovic at the net.

Nardi set the tone early with his hard shots and frustrated Djokovic all evening.

Djokovic huffed and puffed against the 20-year-old Italian, but could not get past him

Tennis’ No. 1 was stunned after his three-set third-round loss to Nardi, who is ranked No. 123

Nardi couldn’t hide the smile on his face after dropping an ace to end the match against ‘Djoko’

There was a moment when Nardi was surprised by an ‘in’ call and casually knocked the ball back over the net. It resulted in a winner and led to Djokovic complaining to the referee about a possible interference.

And to think that Nardi was almost on her way home. He entered the field as a “lucky loser”, that is, a player who encountered the final hurdle in qualifying, but made it into the main draw as a replacement for an injured player who withdrew before the first round.

In Nardi’s case, he replaced number 30 Tomas Martin Etcheverry and received a bye during the opening round.

With a combination of aggressiveness and finesse, Nardi Djokovic, who has been ranked No. 1 for a record 416 weeks in a record 13 different years, occasionally smiled and shook his head in a mixture of surprise and shock.

Nardi was also far from intimidated, answering Djokovic’s well-placed shots with well-placed returns of his own.