ATP Tour

Prizmic stuns Djokovic in Rome

Dino Prizmic earned the biggest win of his career on Friday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, where he upset a physically hampered Novak Djokovic 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 to reach the third round.

After cruising through the first set, Djokovic struggled physically in the second set. The 38-year-old bent down and placed his hands on his knees between points, slowly trudging to his chair at changeovers. The Serbian showed more signs of life in the third set, but ultimately lacked the energy to overcome Prizmic, who impressively held his nerve and rose to the occasion to become the first Croatian man to advance to the third round in Rome since Borna Coric in 2023.

"For me, it is hard to [know what to] say. I have big respect for Novak. He is my idol, so it was a great match for me today," Prizmic said. "I played unbelievable and I want to stay focused and be ready for the next one.

"First set he played unbelievable and at the end of the set I tried to find my game and I did it, so it is very, very good."

Qualifier Prizmic impressed in his only previous Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting against Djokovic at the Australian Open in 2024. Then aged 18, Prizmic won a set against the former No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings and caused the Serbian issues with his consistent baseline ball-striking before losing in four.

On Friday in the Italian capital, it was Djokovic who faded. The third seed was competing for the first time since Indian Wells in March – when he lost in the fourth round to British lefty Jack Draper – and was far from his best against Prizmic.

The 38-year-old struggled to move freely at times and was unable to outlast the 20-year-old in the physical baseline exchanges down the home stretch. Prizmic increased his aggression from the second set and played with a renewed sense of confidence to score a victory against his idol.

Prizmic has now earned two Top 10 wins, having beaten Ben Shelton en route to the third round at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid last month. The 20-year-old is aiming to advance to the fourth round at this level for the first time and next plays Ugo Humbert.

Last year, Prizmic was at No. 334 in the PIF ATP Rankings but is competing this week at a career-high No. 79. In the form of his life, the Croatian has won eight of his past nine matches (including qualifying in Madrid and Rome) and last month advanced to the final at an ATP Challenger event in Italy.

Earlier this year, Djokovic downed Jannik Sinner to reach the championship match at the Australian Open and will hope to have recovered in time for Roland Garros later this month, when the World No. 4 will aim to capture a record-extending 25th major title. It is the first time six-time Rome champion Djokovic has lost in his opening match in the Italian capital (18-1).

Lorenzo Musetti is in the same quarter as Prizmic and the Italian made a good start to his campaign with a 6-4, 6-4 win against Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. The home favourite reached the semi-finals at the Masters 1000 event last year and this fortnight will aim to become the first Italian champion at the tournament since Adriano Panatta in 1976.

Musetti will next play Francisco Cerundolo after the Argentine beat Alejandro Tabilo 6-0, 6-2.