Novak Djokovic and British No1 Kyle Edmund suffered disappointing defeats at Indian Wells on Sunday.

Djokovic was beaten 6-7, 6-4, 1-6 by world No109, Taro Daniel, who had made the main draw as a qualifier.

BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) Daniel does it!



In the biggest win of his career, 25-year-old qualifier Taro Daniel - ranked No. 109 - shocks five-time winner Novak Djokovic 7-6(3) 4-6 6-1 to move into the 3R#BNPPO18 pic.twitter.com/hoEYhTlLLY

Both Djokovic and Edmund were making their first appearances since the Australian Open. Djokovic lost in the fourth round in Melbourne while Edmund reached the semi-finals.

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On his return from elbow surgery, Djokovic looked a pale shadow of his former self to make a quick exit from a tournament he has won five times.

Djokovic’s performance in the final set against the world’s 109th-ranked player on centre court raised some eyebrows. Four-time grand slam champion Jim Courier questioned the Serb’s effort, saying Djokovic had “capitulated.”

“The question marks surrounding his defeat today will only grow larger,” Courier said in commentary on the Tennis Channel. “We wondered post surgery what it was going to look like, how his elbow was going to react to the strain and stress, but it was his heart and head that didn’t react the right way in this match. That is as head scratching as anything you’ll see.”

Djokovic, who was seeded 10th, acknowledged his poor performance. “It felt like the first match I have ever played on the tour, very weird,” he told reporters. “I just completely lost rhythm, everything, struggled a little bit with the health the last couple of weeks. I was grateful to be out on the court after surgery that quickly but at the same time just didn’t feel good at all. Nerves were there. I made so many unforced errors.”

Edmund, who has been out of action with a hip injury since his brilliant performance in Melbourne, led Israel’s Dudi Sela 3-1 in the opening set and had two break points to go further ahead. However, world No97 Sela dug deep to hold serve and immediately broke Edmund to get back on level terms before another break in the 10th game secured the set.

Sela also took the second set by the same score to seal a 6-4, 6-4 victory in 91 minutes against world No24 Edmund, who replaced the injured Andy Murray as British No1 earlier this month.