Mar 28, 2025; Miami, FL, USA; Novak Djokovic (SRB) reacts after missing a shot against Grigor Dmitrov (BUL)(not pictured) in a men's singles semifinal on day eleven of the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium.

tennis

Novak Djokovic Stares at Roland Garros Worries With 2025 Madrid Open Upset vs Arnaldi

Djokovic is still searching for his 100th title.

Novak Djokovic suffered yet another shock loss on Saturday when he was beaten by Matteo Arnaldi in the Mutua Madrid Open Round of 64. It was an error-prone performance from the 24-time Grand Slam champion, and his Italian opponent pounced on it for a 6-3 6-4 win. Arnaldi will now face a surprise Round-3 entrant in the form of Damir Dzumhur.

The entire 2025 season has been a struggle for Djokovic thus far. The Serbian sensation has reiterated that his dip in form is worrisome, but not all too surprising. Having reached the semifinal at the Australian Open, things went downhill when Djokovic was forced to retire from his match against Alexander Zverev. Since then, he has lost the opening round in four out of five tournaments.

On the other hand, Arnaldi came into this match with a 9-9 record this season. The 24-year-old hasn’t been in the best of form. Yet, he displayed patience and precision en route to the biggest victory of his career against his idol.

Novak Djokovic Suffers Madrid Beating Against Arnaldi

This was the first meeting between the two inter-generational players. After holding in his opening service game, Arnaldi broke straightaway before getting broken back. At 4-3, he broke Djokovic again to take the decisive lead in the set. From the 99-time Tour-level title winner’s standpoint, he found no rhythm whatsoever. Courtesy of his 20 unforced errors including 3 double faults, he dropped the opening set 3-6.

In the second set, Djokovic played slightly safer and reduced his errors. He hit 13 winners to 12 unforced errors, and moved Arnaldi around the court. Striking some fierce aces, the former World No. 1 kept the match alive and on serve. However, a break in Game-7 of the set spelt the endgame for Djokovic. It took Matteo Arnaldi just over an hour and a half to emerge victorious 6-3 6-4.

Arnaldi Overjoyed After Pulling off Djokovic Upset

Arnaldi d. Djokovic 6-3 6-4

What a moment.

When he was a kid, Matteo watched Novak’s matches in school with a phone underneath his desk.

Today, he defeated his idol without losing a set.

✅5th top 10 win
✅2nd top 10 win of 2025
✅2nd Madrid R3

Making that kid proud.

🇮🇹❤️ pic.twitter.com/godpbZUrBJ
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) April 26, 2025

“OMG,” expressed Matteo Arnaldi on the camera screen after beating someone whom he self-admittedly idolised while growing up. In the process, he made Djokovic take ownership of a rare unwanted record. The Serb has now lost three consecutive matches twice, and that too in the same season. As the two competitors embraced at the net, one’s ecstasy brought about another’s agony.

“At the start, I was trying to just not sh*t my pants to be honest,” revealed Arnaldi in his post-match interview. The World No. 44 hit 21 winners and just 18 unforced errors on a night that produced a compact performance from him. “He’s my idol, he’s always been. I was just glad that I could play him. I never played him, just practiced with him.”

Djokovic will possibly head to Rome, before going to Paris for the Roland Garros Championships.

ATP

ATP Masters 1000

Carlos Alcaraz

Madrid Open

Matteo Arnaldi

Novak Djokovic

Tennis

Sankalp Harikrishnan

A passionate sports fan through and through, I am currently pursuing my MA in Global Sports Journalism. I specialise in tennis and football writing at The Playoffs News, and I have prior experience working at EssentiallySports and Sportskeeda. Born and raised in Bengaluru, India, sport was my safe space right from my childhood. After trying my hand at multiple sports and representing my educational institutions in cricket, badminton and table tennis, I found sports media to be my calling.