Matteo Berrettini brought his best to the court as he bested Novak Djokovic in the opening round of the Qatar Open at Doha on Tuesday. The Italian registered a 7-6(4), 6-2 win at the ATP 500 to secure his first win against the Serbian and his first victory over a top-10 player since 2023.

Berrettini played at a high level and kept the pressure on Djokovic, who was making a comeback after recovering from a muscle tear. Berrettini said he worked really hard for this win as he has been putting in the hard yards.

“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.”

On the other hand, Djokovic admitted Berrettini was the better player on the day but he was delighted that he didn’t feel any pain in his leg while playing.

Djokovic wrote in a post on X, “Not what I was hoping for out there but good to be back on court. Still working on getting back to my desired level but I played without pain so no excuses. Matteo was the better player on the day and deserves his victory. Good luck Matteo and thank you 🙏🏼 Qatar for your support.”

Berrettini will next take on Tallon Griekspoor in the round of 16 on Wednesday.