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Jiri Vesely’s 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 defeat of world No.1 Novak Djokovic in the second round of the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters will go down as perhaps the upset of the season. The Tennis Review gives you five points about the world no. 55’s shocking win.

Vesely was a tough match up for Djokovic

22 year old Jiri Vesely was always going to be a tough opponent for Djokovic. The Czech, standing at 1.98 m, is a big serving, aggressive risk taker, just the kind of player to trouble Djokovic on clay.  Vesely’s serve and ground strokes are big enough to hit through the court and past his opponents, even Novak Djokovic, and the clay gives him that little bit of extra time to set up his shots and execute his aggressive game.

The 22 year old has some pedigree on clay, too, finishing runner up at the ATP 250 Bucharest event in 2015, one of the best results of his career.

Vesely was also match fit, reaching the Marrakesh semis last week and fighting back from a set down in his Monte Carlo opening round versus Teymuraz Gabashvili.

One thing is having the game to beat Djokovic, another is to actually carry it through. Vesely showed he had the game to do it, and not just his big hitting one, but a more balanced game than we have often seen from the 2011 Australian Open Boys singles champion.

Employing slice, drop shots, and patient point construction alongside his big serving and deep, powerful ground strokes to great effect, Vesely took the first set in 37 minutes.

However, whether or not the Czech could see the win through was in doubt when he struggled in the second, as Djokovic pulled his erratic game together while Vesely’s form dipped, and the Czech dropped the set 2-6.

Vesely’s ability to pull off the upset looked possible at the start of the 3rd set as the 55^th ranked player in the world broke in the opening game, but doubts arose once again when he was immediately broken back.

Players such as Kevin Anderson, Ernsts Gulbis, David Goffin, and Gilles Simon have all had Djokovic on the ropes the past year but have all been unable to resist the Serb’s ability to play his best tennis on the big points, and it looked like Vesely might meet the same fate.

Vesely, however, was not to be dispirited- he broke Djokvic for 2-1, and then played some of the best tennis of his career as he held serve to 5-3 and then pushed Djokvic as he held to stay in the match, holding match point.

Vesely could not convert but he made up for it at 5-4 when he served out the match to 15, opening up the game with another superbly executed drop shot and converting match point by winning another long rally with impressive defending, turning the tables on the world No.1 as he forced Djokovic to go for too much and error on the forehand, before an excitable crowd enjoying the dramatic finale to the year’s biggest upset.

Watch highlights of Vesely’s upset of Djokovic in the video below.

This is Djokovic’s first loss of the season in a completed match.

The world No.1 suffered a loss to Feliciano Lopez in the quarter finals of the Dubai Open when he withdrew with an eye infection after dropping the first set, but other than that he had won 28 matches this season, winning Doha, the Australian Open, Indian wells, and Miami.

During that run, Djokovic beat Federer, Murray, Nadal, Nishikori, Thiem and Raonic. After such a successful first quarter of the season for Djokovic, for many, the big question of the clay season was if anyone would defeat Djokovic and Vesely was not the name on most people’s lips.

The last time Djokovic lost in his opening round match was at Madrid 2013

That loss was to then 28th ranked Grigor Dimitrov.

Vesely, ranked 55, is the lowest ranked player Djokovic has lost to since then 74th ranked Xavier Malisse beat him in the last sixteen of Queens in 2010.

This is Vesely’s first win over a top ten player.

Prior to this Vesely’s biggest scalp was 13th ranked Ernests Gulbis on his run to the 2015 Auckland title, a tournament he won as a qualifier.

The furthest he had taken a top ten player before his win over Djokovic was against Andy Murray who he led by a set to love in the round of 32 of Indian Wells in 2014.

Vesely next faces Monfils while Djokovic is not scheduled to play until Madrid.

One positive for Djokovic is that he now has plenty of time to rest after such a formidable start to the season and refine his clay court game for his assault on a so far elusive Roland Garros title. His next event is likely to be Madrid which starts May 8th.

Considering how Djokovic reacted after he lost a set to Bjorn Fratangelo in Indian Wells this season- going on to win 28 sets in a row and two ATP 1000 titles- his reaction to losing this match might be a sight to behold.

The loss may also relieve the world No.1 of some pressure regarding Roland Garros. Maintaining a perfect record going into Roland Garros has not helped him win the title before, and in the seasons he managed it, 2011 and 2015, he was overwhelmed by an aggressive risk taker.

Vesely, though, will have given players of his big-hitting ilk hope which could be dangerous for Djokovic who is more vulnerable to such players than any others. His win shows Djokovic is not unbeatable if you can, like Vesely did, belief in yourself, execute your game and take advantage of the Serbian’s erratic form in earlier rounds.

Vesely won’t have much time to react to his win. Next up for Vesely is Gael Monfils who he will face on Thursday. The two have met once, at Wimbledon 2014 in the second round, a match Vesely won in five sets.

The Czech could run with this momentum or suffer a letdown- just as we never knew how he would handle his leads in this match, what will happen next is hard to predict. All we know is the 22 year old is capable of one tennis feat few have achieved the past couple of seasons- defeating Djokovic, which whatever happens next will make him a name to remember, and a name many tennis fans craving a touch of unpredictability in their sport will hope to see up against the world No.1 and the rest of the game’s elite in the near future.