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Former World no. 1 and legend, Novak Djokovic went down against Itlay’s Matteo Arnaldi in the opening round of the Madrid Open on Saturday, April 26. The 24-time Grand Slam winner, with a straight sets defeat, not only bowed out of the tournament, it also marked his fourth first round exit of 2025 in his last five tournaments.
Speaking in detail of the match, the Serbian went down 6-3, 6-4 in two straight sets in the Round of 64 match at the Manola Santana Stadium, in just an hour and 41 minutes. Moreover, with an early exit, the Italian player also prevented Djokovic from achieving his hundredth career title.
This defeat also marked the 37-year-old third straight defeat, including the loss at the Miami final and his opener to Alejandro Tabilo at the Monte Carlo Masters two weeks ago. During his stay of almost two hours, the Serb was undermined by 32 unforced errores to his opponent’s 18 with his serve getting broke three times.
He’s my idol, he’s always been: Matteo Arnaldi after win over Djokovic
While it was the first meeting between Djokovic and the 44 th ranked Italian player, the winner of the game later revealed what he felt after beating his idol. Speaking after coming out on top, Arnaldi said, “He’s my idol, he’s always been. 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.”
