Novak Djokovic suffered his second straight loss at the Masters level on Saturday, with the three-time Madrid champion knocked out in the second round by Matteo Arnaldi.
The Italian outsider ranked 44th, shocked the former world No. 1, earning his second career defeat of a top five player after beating Casper Ruud here two years ago.
Arnaldi dispatched Djokovic 6-3, 6-4, with the veteran Serb also upset a fortnight ago in his first match in Monte Carlo.
Arnaldi, 24, said he was stunned to beat his tennis idol as the pair met for the first time.
“This was a dream come true for me,” the winner said. “He was my idol as a kid. I’ve only trained with him once.
“Just to play him was a victory for me.”
Arnaldi took an early stand with a break of the fourth seed in the second game. While the match stayed on serve, Djokovic committed a fatal error with back-to-back double-faults to drop serve 3-5, allowing Arnaldi to grab the opener a game later.
Djokovic faile to lift in the second set as the player who turns 38 next month struggles with his game as he seeks a record 100th career title after last lifting a trophy at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
He has now lost his last three matches, starting with the Miami final at the end of March.
Arnaldi’s scrambling style kept Djokovic guessing, with the Italian breaking for 4-3 and saving three break points in the next game for a 5-3 margin.
Two games later Djokovic saved two match points before sending a return long to take the loss with 32 unforced errors; he stands a rather average 12-7 for the season.
“I tried to rally at the start, I was so nervous,” Arnaldi said. “I was doing some mistakes. Then the tension went away and I started to play better.
“It turned into quite a good match, I don’t know what to say.”
Main photo:- Djokovic sportingly congratulates victor Matteo Arnaldi – by ATPTour.com
