New Delhi: Matteo Berrettini stunned two-time champion Novak Djokovic to earn his first-career win over the former World No. 1 at the Qatar Open in Doha on Tuesday, 18 February. The Italian delivered a high-quality performance to defeat Djokovic 7-6(4), 6-2 at the ATP 500 and record his first victory over a Top 10 opponent since January 2023.
Djokovic was playing his first singles match since retiring from his Australian Open semi-final against Alexander Zverev with a hamstring injury and moved freely in the windy Doha conditions. The first set remained tight, with neither player breaking serve which ultimately led to a tiebreak which the Italian won, conceding just two points on Djokovic’s serve.
He got an early advantage in the second set, breaking Djokovic’s serve in the second game. Berrettini held his serve comfortably throughout the second set and eventually secured the match on his second match point. Djokovic put some late pressure back on the Italian in the final game but Berrettini looked a better player and booked his place in Round Two of the 32-player tournament.
Prior to Tuesday’s first-round match, the Serbian legend had broken Berrettini’s serve 27 times in their four previous meetings. Djokovic, who won two consecutive titles in Doha in 2016-17 had no answers to Berrerttini’s red-hot form. The defeat against the Italian was Djokovic’s first opening-round loss since he fell to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at the 2022 ATP Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo.
‘I’m really happy with my performance’: Matteo Berrettini
After the match, the Italian said that he was looking to beat Djokovic and he played against the Serbian Legend in the most important tournaments on Tour and also had the honour and the pleasure to play against him.
“I wish I could have won one of those matches as well. I worked really hard to be back here, to be back at this level. I knew my level was high. I just needed matches and matches like this. All the hard work that I’ve been putting in the last months, in the last days, it worked pretty well today. So I’m really happy with my performance” Berrettini said.
Matteo Berrettini rediscovered his best form and stunned two-time champion Novak Djokovic to earn his first-career win over the former World No. 1 on Tuesday, February 18. Tennis Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
