Djokovic Stunned By Incredible Berrettini Already In First Round Of Qatar Open
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Novak Djokovic's return to the tennis courts wasn't very successful. He lost already in the first round of the 2025 Qatar Open in Doha to Matteo Berrettini.
Djokovic last competed at the Australian Open. He played a great tournament to reach the semi-finals in Melbourne, but an injury forced him to retire against Alexander Zverev.
It wasn't clear whether he would be able to return to the tennis courts already for the ATP 500 event in Doha, but Djokovic recovered very quickly to play in Qatar. He even signed up for the doubles event.
The 37-year-old Serbian competes alongside his friend Fernando Verdasco, who will officially retire from the sport after this event. In their first match, the duo won convincingly 6-1, 6-1 against Alexander Bublik and Karen Khachanov.
Djokovic dismissed any injury concerns ahead of his first singles match, but he knew that the challenge awaiting him was big. His first-round opponent in Doha was Berrettini, who is the former ATP World No. 6 player.
The two also met in the 2021 Wimbledon Championships final, and the Italian player was certainly looking for revenge after losing to Djokovic four years ago. And he played like it.
Both players were extremely solid when they served in the first set of the match. That was the case for the first four games and then the last six games, but in between, there were two games when both struggled.
They were games five and six, so two of the last three games before the balls were first changed. Both faced three break points, but both saved them. That meant only a tie-break could decide the winner of the first set.
Berrettini handled the tie-break much better. He started with a mini-break, and despite losing it, the Italian player was able to add one more mini-break to win the tie-break 7-4.
The Italian then started by holding his serve in the second set. In the second game, Djokovic wanted to do the same, leading 40-15, but he lost his lead, and thanks to his inspired play, Berrettini was able to break.
For someone who can serve as well as Berrettini does, that break was crucial. The Italian player hit 13 aces in the match and he won 85% of points after his first serve.
That's why he was able to avoid facing any break points in the remainder of the second set. Not only that, Berrettini broke Djokovic's serve once again to win the match 7-6(4), 6-2, and stunningly eliminate the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
Djokovic will now return to the practice court, while Berrettini will prepare for his second-round match against Tallon Griekspoor.
