Arnaldi Beats Lifelong Idol Djokovic To Move On In Madrid

Matteo Arnaldi, Novak Djokovic
Matteo Arnaldi and Novak Djokovic (photo: Diego Souto/MMC)

MADRID/WASHINGTON, April 26, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

Three-time champion Novak Djokovic returned to the Mutua Madrid Open for first time since 2022, when he took the court on Manolo Santana Stadium to face No. 44 Matteo Arnaldi of Italy for the first time Saturday afternoon.

It’s a meeting the 37-year-old Serbian great will not soon forget. That’s because Arnaldi pulled off an amazing upset of the World No. 5 and 25-time major champion Djokovic, 6-3, 6-4, in an hour and 41 minutes to advance to the third round. It was just the second career Top-5 triumph for the 24-year-old Italian from Sanremo, who turned pro in 2019.

The loss denied the fourth-seeded Djokovic both an opportunity to continue his chase after a fourth Madrid Open title (following his Spanish title victories in 2011, 2016 and 2019) as well to go after a record-extending 41st ATP Masters 1000 title – and his 100th career ATP Tour crown, too.  Djokovic won his 99th at the Paris Olympics last July. Since then, he’s competed in nine tournaments – reaching the finals at two ATP Masters 1000 events, Shanghai and Miami – without winning a title final.

“He’s my idol, he’s always been,” Arnaldi said during his on-court interview with ATP Media after improving his 2025 win-loss record to 10-9. “I was just glad that I could play him. I never played him, just practiced once 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.”

Indeed, Djokovic (30-10 lifetime in Madrid) gave a sub-par performance, in which he placed just 62 percent of his first serves in play, won only 40 percent of his second-serve points, was broken three times by Arnaldi and committed 32 unforced errors. By the end, Arnaldi, who mixed his game beautifully between powerful forehand groundstrokes and deft-touch drop shots that produced 21 winners, outpointed his opponent 67-60. The two competitors shared a warm embrace at the net and both were smiling as they walked off the court.

The defeat was the third straight for Djokovic (12-7 overall) going back to the Miami Open final he lost to Czechia’s Jakub Mensik. He’s gone 0-2 on clay this season, bowing in his opening-round matches in both Monte-Carlo (to Alejandro Tabilo of Chile) and Madrid (to Arnaldi). It marked the second time this season that Djokovic has lost three straight matches.

“I was hoping I can play one more match than I played in Monte-Carlo. [It’s] kind of a new reality for me, I have to say,” Djokovic said during his post-match news conference. “Trying to win a match or two, not really thinking about getting far in the tournament. … It’s a completely different feeling from what I had in 20-plus years of professional tennis.

“It’s a challenge for me mentally to really face these kinds of sensations on the court, going out early now regularly in tournaments.”

While setting records and winning trophies keeps the former World No. 1 Djokovic motivated, he realizes that along with younger players such as Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev – even Arnaldi – he helps draw crowds to professional tennis tournaments such as Madrid.

“That’s also one of the reasons why I keep on playing is because I feel like it also helps tennis still thrive on the attention and crowd coming in, watching tournaments and getting interested,” Djokovic said earlier this week, during his pre-tournament news conference. “If you see the numbers actually of the attendance in the Grand Slams, and some [other tournaments], [there has been] record-breaking crowds in the last few years.”

Indeed, and for Djokovic’s mid-afternoon match against Arnaldi on Manolo Santana Stadium, the largest show court at Caja Mágica, with a capacity of 12,500, was filled to capacity. There was plenty to cheer about Arnaldi’s inspired performance.

“I was just trying to rally a bit at the start, trying to make him [make] some mistakes,” said the Italian No. 6, who has played in Madrid three times previous times and compiled a respectable 7-3 record. “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.”

Next, Arnaldi will play No. 63 Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzegovina, who upset No. 32 seed Sebastian Baez of Argentina, 1-6, 6-1, 6-2, in an hour and 38 minutes on Court 5. Dzumhur saved nine of 12 break points he faced and converted five of 10 break-point chances against the Argentine. Dzhuhur outpointed Baez 77-67.

De Minaur improves to 4-0 against Sonego

World No. 7 Alex de Minaur took a 3-0 head-to-head lead into his opening-round match against No. 43 Lorenzo Sonego of Italy on Manolo Santana Stadium Saturday afternoon. The Australian No. 1, who owns the second-most wins on the ATP Tour this season with 23, trailing only Carlo Alcaraz (24), earned a satisfying 6-2, 6-3 victory in 75 minutes.

The sixth seed de Minaur hit 12 winners, made just nine unforced errors and converted four of six break points while taking advantage of 33 unforced errors by Sonego. He outpointed his opponent 59-33.

“I was broken in the first game, everything came pretty quickly. But I was very happy with how I settled mentally and how I was able to bounce straight back,” de Minaur said during his on-court interview with ATP Media. “I ended up playing some great tennis.”

Next de Minaur will face No. 29 seed Denis Shapovalov of Canada, who eliminated No. 64 Kei Nishikori of Japan, 6-1, 6-4, in 64 minutes on Court 4. Shapovalov won 83 percent of his first-serve points, saved the only break point he faced while breaking Nishikori’s serve three times in six tries and outpointed him 55-36.

Draper reaches Madrid third round for first time

World No. 6 Jack Draper of Great Britain looked to advance to his first Madrid third round, when he took on No. 34 Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands on Arantxa Sanchez Stadium. To his credit, the Dutch No. 1 owned a 13-1 win-loss record versus left-handers since the start of the 2023 season and was aiming for his first Top-10 win on clay.

However, the fifth-seeded Draper gave an impressive performance against Griekspoor and won, 6-3, 6-4, in an hour and 15 minutes. He struck 20 winners – including five aces – won 85 percent of his first-serve points, saved the only break point he faced and converted two of four break points. Draper outpointed Griekspoor 58-45. With the upset of No. 4 seed Djokovic and withdrawal of No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz due to injury, Draper is the highest remaining seed in the lower half of the draw.

Next, Draper will face No. 30 seed Matteo Berrettini of Italy, who rallied to defeat No. 45 Marcos Giron of the United States, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (6), 6-1, in two hours and 34 minutes on Court 4, behind 12 aces and 42 winners. It was Berrettini’s 200th career tour-level win and he’s just the eighth Italian to reach that plateau. Saturday’s victory improved his win-loss record to 12-8 this season.

Around Caja Mágica

• In his first match since losing the Monte-Carlo final earlier this month, No. 10 seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy defeated No. 51 Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina, 7-6 (3), 6-2, in one hour and 47 minutes on Arantxa Sanchez Stadium. Musetti hit 18 winners, converted three of 13 break points and outpointed Etcheverry 70-57. It was his first win in Madrid since 2022.

Next, Musetti will play No. 17 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, who recovered to beat No. 79 Jan Lennard Struff of Germany, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, in just under two hours on Stadium 3.

• Unseeded Cameron Norrie of Great Britain rallied to beat No. 26 seed Jiri Lehecka of Czechia, 2-6, 6-4, 6-0, in an hour and 35 minutes on Court 4. The 91st-ranked Norrie outpointed Lehecka 24-9 and converted three of four break points the final set to pull out the victory.

Next, Norrie will face 78th-ranked lucky loser Gabriel Diallo of Canada, who went the distance to defeat No. 90 Kamil Majchrzak of Poland, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. Lucky loser Majchrzak replaced World No. 3 and second seed Carlos Alcaraz in the main draw on Thursday, after the Spaniard pulled out of the tournament with muscle injuries to his legs.

• Qualifier Jacob Fearnley of Great Britain upset No. 19 seed Tomas Machac of Czechia, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, in an hour and 44 minutes on Court 5 to advance to the third round. The 68th-ranked Briton hit 32 winners – including nine aces – and outpointed Machac 84-80.

Next, Fearnley will play No. 15 seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, who powered past No. 57 Nicolas Jarry of Chile, 6-3, 6-4, in an hour and 37 minutes. Dimitrov saved all five break points he faced and hit 12 winners against Jarry, who committed 37 unforced errors. Dimitrov outpointed his opponent 72-60.

• No. 16 seed Frances Tiafoe of the United States advanced to the third round after No. 46 Luciano Darderi of Italy retired in the second set. Tiafoe led 7-5, 3-1 after 67 minutes when the match ended on Stadium 3. Tiafoe dropped just three points on his first serve and broke Darderi twice in five attempts. He outpointed his opponent 57-42.

Next, Tiafoe will face No. 39 Alexandre Muller, who upset No. 21 seed Ugo Humbert, 6-2, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5), in an all-French matchup on Court 5. Muller hit 23 winners, converted four of seven break points and outpointed Humbert 112-105. He took advantage of  52 unforced errors by Humbert.

• No. 24 seed Karen Khachanov of Russia advanced to the third round with a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), win over No. 103 Reilly Opelka of the United States, in one hour and 46 minutes on Stadium 3. Although Opelka finished with 17 aces and 43 winners overall, he also made 36 unforced errors and was outpointed by Khachanov 87-68. The Russian faced no break points and was zero for four in break-point conversions against Opelka.

Next, Khachanov will face No. 11 seed Tommy Paul of the United States, who outlasted No. 65 Joao Fonseca of Brazil, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (3), in two hours and five minutes on Manolo Santana Stadium Saturday night, in a match that ended just before midnight. Paul hit 32 winners – 21 of them from his forehand side – and outpointed Fonseca 97-94. The 18-year-old Brazilian countered with 25 winners but also made 37 unforced errors. Paul improved to 12-0 this season in matches in which he won the first set.

Saturday’s Mutua Madrid Open results

Sunday’s Mutua Madrid Open order of play

By the numbers

Since the ATP Masters 1000 series began in 1990, Richard Gasquet of France has won the most matches – 144 – without winning a Masters 1000 title. He’s competed in three finals.

“Quotable …”

“Well for now I’m fine, but you never know. I mean, he’s a great friend, and someone that I really like a lot as a person, his values, his family. We had a fantastic time in Argentina for his farewell match. I was very honored to be the last player he’s going to play with.

“He was in Miami watching my matches, more than few, from the box, so that was also exciting, because I really admire his tennis as well and the way he played it. We talked a little bit about the game, and it was very interesting to listen to him, to see how he observes the game. So, you never know, let’s see.”

– World No. 5 and fourth seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia, during his pre-tournament news conference on Thursday, responding to a question about whether he would be interested in adding Juan Mártin del Potro to his coaching team.

 

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