Arnaldi stuns Djokovic to reach third round in Madrid

Matteo Arnaldi stunned fourth seed Novak Djokovic on Saturday at the Mutua Madrid Open.

The Italian delivered an inspired performance against his lifelong idol and capitalised on a below-par Djokovic to oust the three-time champion 6-3, 6-4 in the second round.

“He’s my idol, he’s always been,” Arnaldi said of Djokovic. “I was just glad that I could play him. I never played him, just practised with him. To play him at a stage like this was already a victory for me. He’s not at his best right now, so I came on court to try to play my best tennis and win, and it happened, so right now I don’t even know what to say.”

Arnaldi, No. 44 in the PIF ATP Rankings, expertly utilised the entire court, blending hefty firepower with delicate drop shots to keep Djokovic on his toes. He thrived on the ad-side, crushing inside-out forehands while Djokovic pressed for winners early in rallies, reflected in the Serbian’s 32 unforced errors, including 17 from his backhand.

“I was just trying to rally a bit at the start, trying to make him [make] some mistakes,” Arnaldi said. “Then once it starts, you start to feel better, the tension goes a little bit away. He gave me a little bit in a few games. For sure it helped me that I broke him straight away so I was like, ‘Alright, that’s a good start’ and then after that, it was an escalation. I started to play better and I think it became a quite good match.”

Djokovic has now suffered three consecutive defeats. He reached the Miami final before falling to Jakub Mensik and then lost to Alejandro Tabilo in his Monte-Carlo opener. The Serbian, who was aiming for his 100th tour-level title this fortnight, leaves Madrid with a 12-7 season record, according to the Infosys ATP Win-Loss Index.

Arnaldi next faces Damir Dzumhur, who overcame 32nd seed Sebastian Baez 1-6, 6-1, 6-2. The 24-year-old Arnaldi’s win against Djokovic in their first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting marks the second Top 5 victory of his career, both of which have occured in Madrid. In 2023, he ousted then-No. 4 Casper Ruud at the Caja Magica.