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Novak Djokovic was gracious in defeat as he slumped to one of the worst results of his career at the Indian Wells Masters, but eagle-eyed social media users have suggested he made a strong point to Luca Nardi as they shook hands at the net.
Nardi, 20, booked a last-16 meeting with American Tommy Paul as he won 6-4 3-6 6-3, serving up one of the biggest shocks in recent tennis history.
Yet it was an incident during the second set that set tongues wagging after the match, with Djokovic making his feelings clear in a heated exchange with chair umpire Greg Allensworth.
Nardi clearly believed a Djokovic serve was out and his body language returning the ball suggested he was not expecting to be playing the point after the ball landed.
Yet the automatic line-calling system did not respond and Nardi ended up winning the point as he rushed to the net and found a way to direct the ball past Djokovic.
READ MORE:Novak Djokovic knocked out by lucky loser Luca Nardi
The Serbian then insisted the point should have been awarded to him as Nardi appeared to have stopped before he casually pushed the ball back over the net, with Djokovic arguing that was grounds for ‘hindrance’ to be called by the umpire.
“He literally stopped and it confused me completely,” said Djokovic as he addressed the umpire.
“I stopped as well. How can you not make that judgement? Are you blagging me or what?”
Allensworth insisted there was no call for him to get involved as he outlined the rules: “Just because he stands there and doesn’t continue to play, doesn’t mean it’s grounds for a hindrance.”
