Novak Djokovic refuses to elaborate on possible arm injury after Monte-Carlo loss

Novak Djokovic brushed off any suggestion of an injury after being upset by Lorenzo Musetti in the Monte-Carlo third round on Thursday.

In challenging conditions on Court Rainier III, Djokovic was far from fluent on serve. The finish line did still appear close when he led by a set and a break, but Musetti refused to go away.

In a chaotic second set featuring a whopping nine breaks of serve, the Italian failed to serve out the set at the first time of asking but did so at the next. After a near one-hour suspension due to rain, both players improved on serve in the decider. Musetti, though, broke decisively midway through the set and converted his fourth match point to bring up the biggest victory of his career.

Having lost serve eight times in the nearly three-hour tussle, an understandably dejected Djokovic refused to engage in any long-drawn exchanges in his post-match press conference.

"It's not a great day for me, so I'm not really in the mood to speak," he said.

When a reporter started to ask about something else, presumably a possible arm injury since Djokovic was wearing a sleeve during the match, the Serb brushed the question aside.

"I cannot say nothing," he said. "I'm okay. I'm fine. Congrats to him. We move on."

Djokovic has not reached the final in Monte-Carlo since winning his second title there in 2015. But he said it was far from 'catastrophic' when asked about his recent exploits in the Principality:

"I don't think it's catastrophic, but my feeling is bad right now because I lost the match. That's all. Congrats to my opponent. I move on."

The World No. 1 will next be in action at the ATP 250 Banja Luca tournament in Bosnia & Herzegovina next week.

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Novak Djokovic becomes second player to play 50 matches at Monte-Carlo

Djokovic (right) lost to Musetti in his 50th match at Monte-Carlo.

The World No. 1 arrived in Monte-Carlo with a 35-13 record. After opening his campaign with a hard-fought win over Ivan Gakhov, he emulated Rafael Nadal (79) as the only male player to play 50 matches at the Principality.

However, it wasn't an occasion to remember for the Super Serb, as he fell to a three-set defeat to Musetti on Thursday. It's pertinent to note that Djokovic lost in the second round to surprise finalist Alejandro Davidovich Fokina last year.

Since winning his second Monte-Carlo title in 2015, the Serb has lost twice in the quarterfinals (2017, 2019) and twice in the Round of 16 (2018, 2021, 2023). He has lost twice in the opening round (second round), doing so in 2016 and 2022.

With his defeat to Musetti, the 22 Grand Slam winner is now 16-2 on the season, having lost in the Dubai semifinals at his last stop.