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The Italian delivered a high-quality display to defeat the third seed 7-6(4), 6-2 at the ATP 500 and record his first victory over a Top 10 opponent since January 2023. Berrettini, the former No. 6 in the PIF ATP Rankings, won 85 per cent (40/47) of points behind his first delivery, according to Infosys ATP Stats, en route to a dazzling 95-minute victory.

“It's something that I've been looking to do,” said Berrettini, who had lost each of his previous four meetings with Djokovic. “I played against him in the most important tournaments on Tour, had the honour and the pleasure to play against him. I wish I could have won one of those matches as well.

“I worked really hard to be back here, to be back at this level. I knew my level was high. I just needed matches and matches like this. All the hard work that I've been putting in the last months, in the last days, it worked pretty well today. So I'm really happy with my performance. I'm really happy because I enjoyed my time out there, which is the most important thing.”

Berrettini was voted ATP’s Comeback Player of the Year in 2024 after he returned from a six-month injury to claim three tour-level titles, but the 28-year-old has struggled to produce that form at the start of the 2025 season. Prior to his campaign in Doha, Berrettini tallied a 1-3 record. But with his bruising performance against Djokovic, during which he struck 19 forehand winners, Berrettini appeared not far from his best.

Competing in his first singles match since retiring from his Australian Open semi-final against Alexander Zverev with a hamstring injury, Djokovic moved freely in the windy Doha conditions. This was particularly evident in the fifth game, where he dug himself out of a 0/40 hole by outlasting Berrettini from the back of the court before producing an inch-perfect drop shot to hold serve. But it was ultimately not enough to stop the Italian from continuing his red-hot form in a one-sided tie-break.

Prior to Tuesday’s first-round clash, Djokovic had broken Berrettini’s serve 27 times in their four meetings, while the Italian had mustered a break on just four occasions. Yet, after a tie-break was required in the opening set, it was Berrettini who wore down the Serbian from the baseline to race, breaking him twice en route to victory.

Djokovic, who won back-to-back titles in Doha in 2016-17 when it was an ATP 250, was unable to conjure an answer to Berrettini's redline tennis. The defeat was the 37-year-old's first opening-round loss since he fell to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at the 2022 ATP Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo.

In the second round at the newly upgraded ATP 500, Berrettini will face Tallon Griekspoor, who defeated the Italian in the first round in Rotterdam earlier this month.