'MY WORST DAY': DJOKOVIC SORRY FOR 'AWFUL' PERFORMANCE AS LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE

Novak Djokovic suffers a shock first-round exit in Monte Carlo. (Getty/Clive Brunskill)

On the receiving end of a third first-round exit in 2025, Novak Djokovic has apologised for displaying a "horrible" performance at the Monte Carlo Masters.

The 37-year-old looked miles off the pace against Chile's Alejandro Tabilo, going down 6-3 6-4, much to the crowd's surprise on Court Rainier III.

Tabilo extends his bizarre head-to-head against Djokovic to 2-0, having last defeated the 24-time major winner in the second-round of the Rome Masters last year by a scoreline of 6-2 6-3.

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During his practice warm-up earlier in the day, vision showed Djokovic clutching at his wrist in some discomfort but admitted even he didn't anticipate playing well below standards.

"I expected myself at least to have put in a decent performance. Not like this. It was horrible," Djokovic expressed after the defeat.

"I did not have high expectations. I knew I’m going to have a tough opponent and I knew I’m going to probably play pretty bad. But this bad? I didn’t expect [it].

"I was hoping it was not going to happen, but it was quite a high probability I’m going to play this way. Just horrible.

"A horrible feeling to play this way, and just sorry for all the people that have to witness this."

Djokovic is ranked 5th in the world, but because he reached the semi-finals in Monte Carlo last year, the Serbian star is set to lose 400 points.

For Tabilo, it was another memorable moment in his career.

"I just tried to remember what I did well last time," he said.

"Thankfully I served well today and it helped me a lot. It was an unreal match."

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