Djokovic: 'I was completely off'

Novak Djokovic lost before the quarter-final stage at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia for the first time in his career on Sunday, struggling to find his usual level against Chilean Alejandro Tabilo.

When reflecting on the third-round clash, the Serbian stated that he was concerned.

“I just wasn't able to find any kind of good feelings on the court, to be honest, striking the ball. I was completely off,” said Djokovic, who lost in straight sets.

The 36-year-old is a six-time champion in Rome and won his opening-round match at the ATP Masters 1000 event against Corentin Moutet. However, he was accidently hit by a falling bottle when leaving the court on Friday night.

Djokovic was asked if he feels the incident impacted him in his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting against Tabilo.

“I don't know, to be honest. I have to check that,” Djokovic said. “Training was different. I was going for [a] kind of easy training yesterday. I didn't feel anything, but I also didn't feel the same. Today under high stress, it was quite bad - not in terms of pain, but in terms of this balance. Just no coordination. Completely different player from what it was two nights ago. Could be. I don't know. I have to do medical checkups and see what's going on."

Djokovic had never faced Tabilo before and the lefty caused the No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings problems throughout with his heavy forehand.

The 98-time tour-level titlist was full of praise for the 26-year-old, who lifted his maiden tour-level trophy in Auckland at the start of the season.

“Congratulations to my opponent,” Djokovic said. “It's the first time I faced him. Great player. Really quality player. All-around game.”

Djokovic stated he will need to improve ‘everything’ if he a chance of winning his 25th major title at Roland Garros. The World No. 1 is 12-5 on the season, with his best result a semi-final run at the Australian Open.