World No. 1 Novak Djokovic was knocked out of the 2022 Monte-Carlo Masters on Tuesday after suffering a 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (1) defeat to unseeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Fokina found himself on the front foot after electing to receive and broke twice to propel himself into a 4-1 lead, winning the fifth game with a stunning cross-court forehand winner.
The 20-time Grand Slam-winner briefly pulled himself back into the first set before Fokina won back-to-back games to clinch it, and the Spaniard raced into a 3-0 lead in the second set before struggling with a wrist issue.
Djokovic took advantage to pull it back to 6-6 and force a tie-break which he prevailed in, but Fokina responded in the third set and broke Djokovic another three times to advance to round three.
Djokovic's shock exit follows another surprising quarter-final exit to Jiri Vesely at the Dubai Tennis Championships in February.
(CGTN)