There was a moment when Nardi was surprised by an “in” call and casually hit the ball back over the net. It resulted in a winner and led to Djokovic complaining to the official about a potential hindrance.

“He literally stopped,” Djokovic told the umpire, who replied that there was no hindrance call.

To think, Nardi was nearly on his way home. A “lucky loser” is a player who stumbled on the final hurdle in qualifying but made it into the main draw as a replacement for an injured player who pulled out before the first round.

Instead, he has become the lowest-ranked player to beat Djokovic in a grand slam or ATP Masters 1000 level event, surpassing No.122 Kevin Anderson in 2008 in Miami.

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Using a combination of aggressiveness and finesse, Nardi had Djokovic, the 24-time grand slam singles champion he grew up watching, smiling and shaking his head at times in a mixture of surprise and shock.

“Before this night, no one knew me,” said Nardi, who will face American Tommy Paul in the round of 16. “I hope now the crowd enjoyed the game. I’m super happy with this one.”

Djokovic certainly didn’t know that much about Nardi, only what he gleaned watching him play. He knew Nardi had a strong baseline game, especially with the forehand, and moved well.

“He got in as a ‘lucky loser’ to [the] main draw, so he really didn’t have anything to lose. So he played great,” Djokovic said. “Deserved to win. I was more surprised with my level. My level was really, really bad.”