There are always first times in life, and some of them are shocking, even in tennis, even when you are almost 31 and you have been a top player for more than a decade. It had never happened that Novak Djokovic lost in his first match in two consecutive Masters 1000 events.

After Taro Daniel in Indian Wells, it was Benoit Paire in Miami to send the former world No. 1 packing, prevailing 6-4 6-3. 'I'm trying, but it's not working', Djokovic admitted. 'I'm not feeling great when I'm playing this way.

Of course, I want to be able to play as well as I want to play. Just it's impossible at the moment. I lost to a better player. I started the match well, first six games, then I just ran out of gas. I couldn't work as much as I needed lately.

He was serving well. I just wasn't able to break him down. He was just coming up with the good shots at the right time. It happened very fast.' Djokovic is aware of his difficult moment: 'I'm not at the level that I used to be.

I never liked comparisons. I know that you can't be the person that you were yesterday, and the player. You have to keep on training, evolving, trying to improve your game. Obviously, the circumstances that I was in in the last two years were kind of very challenging.

But I'm not the only one that goes through that. There are tougher injuries that players go through. I don't want to sit here and whine about my last couple of years. The truth is that it wasn't easy. Obviously, I compromised my game and the movement and everything because of the injury.

I'm trying to figure things out.' Two losses in two matches during the North American Tour, it couldn't be worse: 'I wanted to come to Indian Wells and Miami because I wanted to see whether I can play a match', Djokovic explained.

'I love playing on the hard court. I wanted to get a couple tournaments before the clay court season starts. I obviously wasn't ready for that. I wouldn't go out on the court if I don't believe I can win a tennis match.

I wouldn't be here if I wasn't trying. Nobody is kind of forcing me with a whip to go out on the court. I have a freedom to choose whether I want to play or not. I love this sport. There's a lot of people that support me, especially here.

I thank them for their great support. Unfortunately, I'm not at the level they would like to see me at and I would like to see myself at. But it is what it is. Life goes on.' Asked if he fully expects to get back to a high level, Djokovic replied: 'I don't know what to expect. I'm not expecting anything.

Obviously, I'm facing various challenges in my game, health. I'm trying to figure things out and see what happens.' Djokovic is committed to play the Monte Carlo Masters. But will he be there? 'That was the plan.

But let's see what happens.' ALSO READ: Carreno Busta: 'When Federer and Nadal retire, I will take advantage of it'