Staff Reporter.
Novak Djokovic lost to Matteo Arnaldi in the opening round of the Madrid Open on Saturday, extending the 24-time Grand Slam winner’s struggles on clay ahead of Roland Garros.
Arnaldi won 6-3, 6-4 to continue the delay of Djokovic’s search for a 100th career title.
The 37-year-old Djokovic has lost three matches in a row; including losing the Miami final, and his opener to Alejandro Tabilo at the Monte Carlo Masters two weeks ago as he struggles at the start of the clay-court swing ahead of the French Open next month.
The Serb was undermined by 32 unforced errors to his opponent’s 18 and had his serve broken three times.
It was the first meeting between Djokovic and 44th-ranked Arnaldi of Italy.
“He’s my idol, he’s always been,” Arnaldi said of Djokovic. “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.”
Arnaldi raised his arms and turned to the crowd after striking a winner that gave him a second-set break. Djokovic tried to hit right back and had three break points, but Arnaldi rallied to save his serve and finished off the three-time champion.
He wrote “OMG” (Oh my god) on the camera when given the marker for the now customary message by the winner to the television audience.
Djokovic is still seeking his first title of the season after winning his 99th title last August at the Paris Olympics. He has lost four finals since then. The only two players to reach the 100-title milestone are Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103).
“It’s a completely different feeling from what I had in 20-plus years of professional tennis, so it’s kind of a challenge for me mentally to really face these kinds of sensations on the court, going out early now regularly in the tournament.”
“I’m not going into Roland Garros as one of the main favorites. Maybe that can help, I don’t know, we’ll see,” Djokovic said.
Arnaldi will next face Damir Dzumhur after he rallied past Sebastian Baez 1-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Elsewhere, Lorenzo Musetti, playing his first match since reaching the biggest final of his career in Monte Carlo, moved past Argentina’s Tomas Etcheverry 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 to book a third-round meeting with Stefanos Tsitsipas.
AP contributed into this report.