The Indian Wells Masters saw a huge shock as Novak Djokovic was surprised by World No. 85 Botic Van De Zandschulp in the opening round. The Dutchman beat the 24-time Grand Slam champion 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 to blow the bottom half of the draw entirely open.

Novak Djokovic's start to the season has been very different from expectations. It is true that the Serbian legend reached the semifinals at the 2025 Australian Open – after achieving a titanic feat against Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals – but he had a new injury that forced him to retire during his match against Alexander Zverev.

Botic van de Zandschlup is now only the third lucky loser to defeat Novak Djokovic in the latter's career at ATP level, after Lorenzo Sonego and Luca Nardi, who also achieved the feat at Indian Wells