Qatar: Serbian star Novak Djokovic’s struggle in 2025 continued in the ongoing Qatar Open as well. The Serb suffered a shock loss against Matteo Berrettini of Italy in the Round of 32 fixture on Tuesday. The first set went into a tiebreaker where the latter prevailed but he dished out a clinical performance in the second set to pull off the upset with a scoreline of 7-6 (4), 6-2.
The 37-year-old was expected to deliver a stellar performance after having to retire hurt in the Australian Open semi-final against Alexander Zverev. In the last four matches between these two, Djokovic never conceded a loss against Berrettini. Thus, he was considered the favourite for the win. The Italian displayed an aggressive gameplay to beat the World No. 7.
𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗼 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗶 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘀!
— Casino Influencers (@csninfluencrs) February 19, 2025
Matteo Berrettini stuns former World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in straight sets at the Qatar Open 2025! 🎾
This marks Berrettini’s first top-10 win since 2023. What a performance! 👏💪
Play responsibly here: https://t.co/98yoICxD6V pic.twitter.com/FMBnGM3Nxd
After the match, Djokovic stated that he was outplayed by his opponent.
“I haven't had any pain or discomfort during the match, none of that. Today, I was simply outplayed by a better player, that's all,” Djokovic said.
“I know I wasn't at the desired level, maybe I'm still not moving the way I want to, but what I want to make clear is that I played without any pain, so there's no excuse. Matteo was a better player than me; I think he played a masterful match, to be honest. Tactically, he was great, and he served very well throughout the match. I believe it was a well-deserved victory on his part,” he added.
It was Berettini’s 10th career victory against a top-10 opponent. He will now square off against Tallon Griekspoor in the second round while building on the momentum.
