Novak Djokovic suffers shock exit at Italian Open 2024 following freak head injury-causing bottle accident

Novak Djokovic suffered a shock exit at the 2024 Italian Open on Sunday, falling in the third round to Alejandro Tabilo in straight sets. The Serb's loss comes just days after his freak accident in Rome, which saw him suffer a head injury and light bleeding.

Djokovic, taking on Tabilo for the first time on the ATP Tour, immediately started on the backfoot, losing his serve early to go 3-1 behind. The World No. 1 is no stranger to recovering from early setbacks, and just when everyone expected him to pull off another comeback, Tabilo shocked fans in Rome by forcing a second break of serve to seal the set 6-2, saving three break points.

The Chilean started strong once again, breaking early to lead 3-1 in the second set. From there, Tabilo consolidated to close out the set 6-3, and with it the match in a little under an hour and 10 minutes. Up next, the 29th seed will take on 16th seed Karen Khachanov in the fourth round of the Italian Open.

The defeat marks the earliest exit Djokovic has had in Rome since 2007, when he entered the main draw for the first time. The year before that, he had lost in the second round of qualifiers. Since then, until the 2024 edition, the 24-time Grand Slam champion has at least made the quarterfinals of the Masters 1000 event, where he's a six-time champion.

How much of the defeat on Sunday was made possible by the head injury the World No. 1 suffered at the Italian Open on Friday is unclear, but it certainly cannot be shrugged off.

Following his second-round win, Djokovic was greeting fans with a routine autograph session when a bottle slipped out of a fan's bag and hit him squarely on the head. He immediately crumbled to the ground in pain and was quickly escorted away for medical attention.

Nevertheless, the 36-year-old confirmed later on that he was fine and that the injury was not serious. In fact, Djokovic took the incident in his stride by hilariously showing up with a bike helmet over his head when meeting fans the next day on site.

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Novak Djokovic in action next at the 2024 French Open

Novak Djokovic

Following his hasty exit from the 2024 Italian Open, Novak Djokovic will be in action next at the French Open, where he's the defending champion. Last year, the Serb beat Casper Ruud in the final to win his third title at Roland Garros and his 23rd Grand Slam overall.

While record 14-time champion Rafael Nadal was missing from the 2023 edition in Paris, he's likely to join Djokovic at the tournament this year. Also in action at the event will be the likes of World No. 2 Jannik Sinner, World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz and three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray.