Novak Djokovic’s wait for a 100th career ATP Tour title continues after his competitive return was cut short with a shock first-round exit at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open.
Djokovic, making his first appearance since a leg injury forced him to retire from his Australian Open semi-final, was beaten 7-6 (4) 6-2 by Italian Matteo Berrettini in the last 32 on Tuesday.
Berretini came through a one-sided tie-break to claim the opening set and then dominated the second, breaking Djokovic twice on his way to a first victory over a top-10 opponent since January 2023.
Novak Djokovic was beaten in straight sets by Matteo Berrettini in Qatar
Djokovic’s defeat is his first opening-round loss since the 2022 ATP Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo and a first career defeat against Berretini, who will now face Tallon Griekspoor in the next round.
“I worked really hard to be back here, to be back at this level,” said Berretini, who was voted ATP’s Comeback Player of the Year in 2024 after a six-month injury lay-off. “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.”
Second seed Alex de Minaur defeated Roman Safiullin 6-1 7-5 to reach the second round, his 200th hard-court win, with the Australian next playing qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp in the newly upgraded ATP 500 tournament.
Andrey Rublev eased past Alexander Bublik in straight sets, keeping him on course for a potential quarter-final against De Minaur, while Daniil Medvedev claimed his first win over a top-30 opponent this year after defeating defending champion Karen Khachanov.
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Highlights of the Qatar Open Championship match between Karen Khachanov and Daniil Medvedev.
Murray to stay with Djokovic “indefinitely”
Djokovic will continue to work with coach Andy Murray “indefinitely” as the two prepare to work together across the North American Swing and the European clay-court season.
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Djokovic said he’s glad Andy Murray agreed to extend his coaching role with the Serbian and admits it’s exciting for the tennis world
Murray is now poised to work with the Serb at Indian Wells and Miami in March and then during the clay-court portion of the year, which culminates at the French Open from May 25 to June 8.
Djokovic told the ATP Tour’s in-house media channel: “We had a chat the day after I finished [the Australian Open] – we reflected on the period we spent together.
“We agreed he was going to take some time and think, speak with his family members and see if he decides to keep working. I expressed my desire to continue the collaboration with him so I am really glad he did accept.
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Djokovic said the majority of the players he has spoken to feel the lenient ban Jannik Sinner received for a positive drugs test is unfair and believes there is favouritism for the bigger names in the sport
“It is indefinite in terms of how long we are going to work together, but we agreed most likely in the States and some clay-court tournaments. We will see how it goes after that.”
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