Dan Evans' win over Novak Djokovic makes him just the 6th active player with a positive h2h against the Serb
Novak Djokovic suffered a shock loss in the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Thursday. World No. 33 Dan Evans, who had won just four tour matches on clay before this week, stunned Djokovic 6-4, 7-5 to end the Serb's bid for a third title in the Principality.
The result not only gave Evans his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal appearance, but also a 1-0 lead over Djokovic in their head-to-head. The two players had never met before their match on Thursday.
Dan Evans has thus joined an exclusive club of players with a positive head-to-head record against Novak Djokovic - a club that includes the likes of Marat Safin, Andy Roddick and Nick Kyrgios.
According to match records that have been maintained by the ATP, Novak Djokovic trails 12 players in head-to-head meetings. And out of these 12 players, only six are currently active on the tour.
The full list, along with Djokovic's record against each, goes as follows:
Retired players
Marat Safin (0-2)
Dennis van Scheppingen (0-1)
Antony Dupuis (0-1)
Filippo Volandri (0-1)
Fernando Gonzalez (1-2)
Andy Roddick (4-5)
Active players
Nick Kyrgios (0-2)
Jiri Vesely (0-1)
Taro Daniel (0-1)
Lorenzo Sonego (0-1)
Ivo Karlovic (1-2)
Dan Evans (0-1)
Nick Kyrgios, Jiri Vesely, Taro Daniel, Lorenzo Sonego and Dan Evans have run up a positive h2h against Novak Djokovic during his prime
Novak Djokovic trails both Marat Safin and Andy Roddick in the head-to-head, but he faced the two former World No. 1s when he was still taking baby steps on the tour. Djokovic met Safin only twice, in 2005 and 2008, although he did play Roddick nine times before the American retired.
The 33-year-old has dominated most of his match-ups on the tour since reaching his peak in 2011. He even leads his two biggest rivals, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, in their respective head-to-head records.
Having said that, Novak Djokovic has also suffered his share of uncharacteristic losses now and then. The Serb has accumulated a negative head-to-head record against Nick Kyrgios, Jiri Vesely, Taro Daniel, Lorenzo Sonego and Dan Evans despite playing them in his prime years.
Djokovic's record against Kyrgios in particular has become a big talking point in the tennis community. His form slump in 2017 helped Kyrgios take a spotless 2-0 lead in their head-to-head; the Aussie got the better of Djokovic in both Acapulco and Indian Wells that season.