ATP Tour

Tirante stuns physically ailing Djokovic in Cincinnati

Thiago Agustin Tirante kept his cool in the face of Cincinnati Open humidity on Saturday afternoon to pull off the biggest win of his career against a physically struggling Novak Djokovic.

The 25-year-old Argentine prevailed 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in an absorbing two-hour, 44-minute second-round battle at the hard-court ATP Masters 1000 event. Tirante, who is competing at a career-high No. 50 in the PIF ATP Rankings in Cincinnati, took control of the match in the second set as Djokovic appeared to hit a wall physically in his first match since his Wimbledon semi-final against Jannik Sinner.

Despite Djokovic saving 13 of 15 break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats, Tirante found a way past the World No. 5 by staying consistent and capitalising on his opponent’s lapses. Although the three-time Cincinnati champion Djokovic appeared to regain some energy in the deciding set, Tirante clinched a decisive break in the ninth game before serving out to love for a famous victory.

“I think this is the best win of my career,” Tirante said. “I think I really did a good job inside the court. I managed very well the nerves of playing against a legend like Novak. Now I feel relieved, because it is all so much pressure when you cannot break [serve]. I had so many points to break and I couldn’t, so that was the key, to keep believing in myself with my team and think about it after the match.

“Thinking about my family and my friends that are in Argentina watching me, they are really happy to watch me on TV… They are in Argentina, but they are in my head as well.”

With his victory against former World No. 1 Djokovic, Tirante improved to 4-1 against Top-10 opponents. Before this year the Argentine had not won more than six tour-level matches in a single season, but he has now earned 23 in 2026, including his defeats of then-No. 9 Ben Shelton in Munich in April and then-No. 8 Taylor Fritz in Montreal earlier this month.

Tirante's next test in Cincinnati will be a third-round encounter with #NextGenATP star Martin Landaluce, who earlier defeated 31st seed Matteo Arnaldi 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. It will be a first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting between Tirante and Landaluce.

“The confidence [my team] gives me [is key]. I think we are doing a really good job with my mental [coach] ," Tirante said. "They are helping me a lot and this I think has been the key this year, to believe in myself more and listen to my team between the points in the match. So I think I am doing the right things.”

Djokovic first appeared to struggle physically in Saturday's encounter from midway through the first set, when his energy levels appeared to fluctuate. The 39-year-old nonetheless held firm to reel off four games in a row and move a set ahead, but his battle to compete in the heat and humidity was far from over.

When serving at 1-1, deuce, Djokovic asked for the physio at the end of the game, which ultimately turned into a marathon that lasted nearly 18 minutes. The Serbian fended off four break points to eventually hold and then underwent a lengthy assessment from the tournament doctor at the changeover.

Still appearing to be struggling, Djokovic battled admirably for long stretches of the second set but was unable to deny Tirante his first break of the match in the seventh game. The Argentine soon wrapped up the set to force a decider, and then stuck with Djokovic even as the Serbian began to show signs of his usual self.

As he had so often in the match, Djokovic fended off three break points when serving at 4-4 in the third set. He could not repel Tirante a fourth time, however, and the Argentine showed few nerves in closing out to down the record-40-time Masters 1000 titlist.