ROME/WASHINGTON, May 9, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)
When Dino Prizmic served up his third ace of the match to complete a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 upset of his idol, 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic, at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome Friday evening, it was a moment he had always dreamed of that was finally coming true.
There was no better time than now in beating Djokovic for all the tennis world to see. From the 10,500 fans who filled up Campo Centrale on the third day of competition in this ATP Masters 1000 event on red clay to the worldwide TV audience who tuned in, Prizmic had garnered everyone’s attention.
The 20-year-old, 79th-ranked qualifier from Split, Croatia had pulled off a stunning victory over a visibly ailing Djokovic, winning the three-set second-round match in two hours and 15 minutes on the largest show court at Foro Italico.
View this post on Instagram
The crowd gave the 6-foot-2-inch, 176-pound Prizmic a standing ovation after he secured his ninth tour-level victory of the season, which advanced him to the third round against No. 31 seed Ugo Humbert of France. The win also boosted him to a new career-high in the PIF ATP Live Rankings at No. 78.
Prizmic overcame 30 unforced errors in his high-risk, high-reward style of play to finish with 25 winners. He broke Djokovic’s serve three times in six attempts, including in the fifth game of the final set to push ahead 3-2, from which he never wavered.
By comparison, Djokovic finished with 17 winners but committed an unlike-Djokovic total of 26 unforced errors. It had become apparent as the match wore on – especially in the final set – that the Serbian great had faded physically. He bent over at the waist numerous times in between points and walked gingerly to his bench during change overs.
However, after Prizmic secured match point, he and Djokovic shared a cordial hug at the net and both smiled as they walked off the court together. All was good between the two competitors. Then, when Prizmic returned to salute the crowd, he pounded his chest four times as the applause showered down upon him.
Overcoming his idol 🔥
This is what it means for Prizmic 🙌#IBI26 pic.twitter.com/vgV0nbQ7ch
— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 8, 2026
During his post-match news conference, Prizmic was asked if his victory over Djokovic was one of the most exciting – if not the most exciting – moments of his career.
“Yeah, it was big moment for me. It was also big thing to share the court with a legend,” Prizmic said. “So yeah, today, I mean, I played unbelievable. I’m very happy about my performance today.”
Meanwhile, Djokovic would have nothing of it when asked to talk about his own physical conditioning, which ultimately contributed to his third loss of the season in his 10th match. Instead, the Serbian great wanted to congratulate Prizmic and offered props to him on his outstanding effort.
“I want to congratulate Dino. Deservedly the winner today,” Djokovic said.
“He’s a great competitor, great fighter, a great kid. I’ve known him for some years. Obviously, we speak the same language, so I always wish him all the best.
“Today he has definitely performed a high-level tennis. I told him at the net that his forehand improved a lot.
“Whatever he has been doing with his team is working out well. He should just keep going.”
BIGGEST WIN OF HIS CAREER 🙌
The moment Dino Prizmic defeated the six time champion 🔥#IBI26 pic.twitter.com/Qsdillvs1J
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 8, 2026
Prizmic and Djokovic had played once before Friday evening in Rome. It happened during the first round of the 2024 Australian Open in Melbourne on a hard court, won by Djokovic, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4.
“Yeah, I thought also two, two and a half years ago when we played in Australia, I think first round, I thought that he possesses a lot of talent and potential,” Djokovic said.
“Hopefully he can stay healthy because I know he struggled a lot with injuries. If things come together, he can really go far in the rankings.”
From Prizmic’s point of view, in comparing the two times he’s played Djokovic, he said: “Now he didn’t play for a while, so it was easier. But again, it was for me very hard. Especially first set, he played unbelievable. I just tried to stay in the match and tried to stay focused. In the end, it was good.”
Just how exactly did it feel for Prizmic to beat Djokovic, his idol?
“Now [the] feeling is amazing,” he said. “But yeah, in two days I have another match, so I just need to recover as much as I can for the next match and also to play as much as I can, my best tennis. Try to play, yeah, that’s it.”
View this post on Instagram
In addition to his run to the third round in Rome, which has included a pair of wins during the qualifying draw and now two wins in the main draw, Prizmic has enjoyed a highly successful clay-court season this spring. Before going 4-1 in Madrid (2-0 in qualifying, 2-1 in main draw) and 4-0 so far in Rome (2-0 in qualifying and 2-0 main draw), Prizmic was a finalist at an ATP Challenger Tour 125 event in Monza, Italy last month.
In all competitions this year, including tour-level, qualies and Challengers, Prizmic is 25-8. Last year, he qualified for the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah and finished the 2025 season by going 40-17 overall.
Prizmic was asked by a reporter in Rome if when he was coming up through the game, watching Djokovic on TV, could he have imagined beating him at an ATP Masters 1000 event, which is one rung below a major.
“Not really, to be honest. Not really,” he said. “But today, it happened. I mean, I prepared very good with my team. I recovered very well. Yeah, today I stepped on court and I said I will try to play as much as I can and we will see what will happen.
“Yeah, at the end of the first set I felt his level is a little bit dropped. In the beginning of the second set, I was up 2-0. I was, ‘Now I can play against him,’ yeah.”
Work until your idols become your rivals.
A full circle moment for Dino Prizmic ❤️#IBI26 | @atptour pic.twitter.com/YsCErtkMnS
— Internazionali BNL d’Italia (@InteBNLdItalia) May 8, 2026
According to Djokovic, he wasn’t expecting so much quality from Prizmic’s forehand, a shot which the Croatian admitted he’s worked hard on to improve.
“Yeah, I would say maybe, yeah, the forehand. Especially today I felt my forehand unbelievable,” Prizmic said.
The Croatian rising star added: “Yeah, I played as much as I can my forehand on the court. Definitely today my forehand was very important to play very good. Yeah, but also on the court I felt unbelievable today.”
