Botic van de Zandschulp’s reward for pulling off a shock win against Novak Djokovic at the Indian Wells Masters is a third-round match against Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo.

The 29-year-old was only at the tournament as a lucky loser, stepping in for a late withdrawal after being beaten in the qualifying rounds.

But he pulled off one of the shocks of his career by winning in three sets against the 24-time Grand Slam champion on Saturday.

The Dutch number one, Tallon Griekspoor, also produced a second-round upset when he knocked out top seed and world number 2 Alexander Zverev in three sets, 4-6 7-6 7-6.

He followed that up with a straight-sets victory over the world number 30, big-serving 6ft 8in tall Frenchman Giovanni Mpteshi Perricard, to reach the fourth round at Indian Wells for the first time.

Staying calm

Van de Zandschulp said the key to his 6-2 3-6 6-1 victory against Djokovic, the world number 5, was managing to keep calm as the Serbian fought back in the second set.

“I started really well and then Novak obviously came back,” he said. “I know that when I lose my cool, especially against the best players, it’s going to be a very hard day.”

The 37-year-old Djokovic, who lost his third match in a row for the first time since 2018, admitted that he was struggling to maintain his dominant form of the last two decades.

“Every now and then, I have a couple good tournaments, but mostly it’s really a challenge,” he said. “It is what it is: nothing can prepare you for that moment.”

Griekspoor will move up from 43rd on the ATP rankings to a provisional 39th after going a round better than last year, and could reach 35th if he beats Japanese qualifier Yosuke Watanuki in the last 16.

Van de Zandschulp will move up from 85th place to 82nd as a result of his win against Djokovic, and could break into the top 50 if he reaches the latter stages of the tournament.