Novak Djokovic has suffered a shock early exit from the Monte-Carlo Masters, losing his opening match to Chile's Alejandro Tabilo in straight sets.
The third seed was defeated 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday, looking visibly out-of-sorts throughout the contest.
It marks another disappointing result for the 24-time Major winner, who had previously admitted he didn't have "high expectations" for the tournament following his straight-set defeat in the Miami Open final just 10 days ago.
Concerns about Djokovic's physical condition had emerged earlier in the day when he was spotted grabbing his arm in pain during practice.
Novak Djokovic was visibly struggling throughout his defeat to Chile's Alejandro Tabilo
Reuters
A member of his team was seen massaging the area, with cameras catching his physio attending to his right forearm.
The 37-year-old had already been suffering with an eye infection before the tournament.
Despite these issues, Djokovic took to Court Rainier III for his match against Tabilo, the Chilean who had previously shocked him at last year's Italian Open.
Djokovic started promisingly, breaking Tabilo's serve in the opening game of the match.
However, things quickly deteriorated as the Chilean won five of the next six games, breaking twice to take the first set.
Tabilo maintained his momentum, breaking early in the second set as Djokovic appeared subdued.
The crowd attempted to rally behind the Serb with chants of 'Nole', and Djokovic briefly raised his level to earn break points.
But the errors continued to flow, and despite saving a match point on his serve, Djokovic couldn't prevent Tabilo from serving out the victory.
The world No. 5 was clearly below his best form, hitting 29 unforced errors and landing just 54 per cent of his first serves.
Novak Djokovic suffered a surprise defeat to Alejandro Tabilo, who had won just three matches this year before
Reuters
This defeat marks Djokovic's first loss on clay since Tabilo defeated him at last year's Masters 1000 in Rome.
Djokovic is not the only top seed to make an early exit from Monaco.
On Tuesday, world No. 2 Alexander Zverev was eliminated by Matteo Berrettini in another surprising result.
These upsets have significantly altered the tournament's landscape.
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With the departure of Djokovic and Zverev, three-time champion Stefanos Tsitsipas now emerges as the highest seed remaining in the top half of the draw at No. 6.
The Greek player will face Nuno Borges on Thursday for a place in the quarter-finals.
Djokovic's early exit continues a challenging period for the Serb, who reached the quarter-final at last year's French Open before withdrawing with injury.
He had subsequently claimed Olympic gold medal on the clay courts at Stade Roland Garros.
