Madrid: Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic continued his lean patch in the Madrid Open 2025 as well, suffering a first-round exit in the tournament. The 24-time Grand Slam Champion faced his fourth first-round exit of the year and crashed out of the Madrid Open on Saturday. Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi outplayed Djokovic in straight sets by 6-3, 6-4 in the Round of 64 fixture at Manolo Santana Stadium. The match was concluded in an hour and 41 minutes.
Since the Australian Open, the veteran tennis star has been going through a dismal form, exiting in the first round of four out of five matches - Qatar Open, Indian Wells Masters, Monte Carlo Masters, and now the Madrid Open. His sole deep run came in the Miami Open, where he reached the final but suffered a loss against Jakub Mensik.
WHAT a way to break! 🙌@mattearnalds | @MutuaMadridOpen | #MMOpen pic.twitter.com/Wpjo9ADYki
— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 26, 2025
Notably, Arnaldi would secretly watch Djokovic’s match on his phone, hidden beneath his desk during his schooldays. After defeating his idol, the 24-year-old celebrated the victory like a dream come true.
“Pretty much. Without any doubt. He’s my idol. He always has been. I was just glad I could play him because I never played him, I only practised once with him. So to play him at a stage like this was already a victory for me,” Arnaldi said in the on-court interview after the match.
“He’s not at his best right now. I came on court to try to play my best tennis and win. Right now, I don’t even know what to say,” Arnaldi added.
Amazing Arnaldi from start to finish 💪
— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 26, 2025
What a performance as @mattearnalds takes down three-time champion Djokovic 6-3 6-4!@MutuaMadridOpen | #MMOpen pic.twitter.com/AtwnDfnbDt
Arnaldi dominated the proceedings right from the word go and took a 2-0 lead, breaking the serve of his opponent. However, Djokovic earned the break back and made the scoreline 2-1 soon. At 4-3, Arnaldi upped the ante and broke one more serve of his opponent to bag the set by 6-3.
In the second set, Arnaldi broke the serve of his opponent at 4-3 and never allowed him to bounce back in the match.
