Matteo Arnaldi beats Novak Djokovic in Madrid: a historic feat in tennis

In Madrid yesterday's feat was signed by Matthew Arnaldi who defeated in two sets (6-3 6-4) Novak Djokovic which, despite its 37 years, continues to be an institution not only for this sport.

"It's a dream come true, Novak has always been my idol. I was already happy just to be able to challenge him, I even beat him. I know he's not at his best, but I had to play my best tennis to beat him - these are Arnaldi's words at the end of the match -. At the beginning I was very tense, I tried to hit and exchange to make him make mistakes. Then I calmed down. I'm very happy. I have to watch this match again, I've been watching it on TV since I was a child. It was all perfect".

The former world number one responds with a greeting that has the flavour of farewell. "This could be the last time in Madrid," Nole explained. "I'm not sure I'll come back. Maybe I will but maybe not as a player. I hope not but it could be. I knew it would be a very complicated match, against a very good player. I hadn't played many matches on clay, I had trained well but it's different when you go on the court to play. I'm not at the level of play that I would like but I lost against a player who is better than me. In twenty years I haven't experienced what I've experienced in the last 12 months, losing on my debut so many times. It's part of the sport, I can't complain about my career, now I try to be optimistic but it's a new reality that I have to accept."

The 24-year-old Ligurian thus reaches the last 16 of these ATP Masters 1000 and today he will meet the Bosnian Damir Džumhur who is ranked number 63 in the world, while Matteo Arnaldi is ranked number 44. Lorenzo Musetti (11) also passed the round, eliminating the Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry in two sets and on his way he will meet the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (18). Despite some groin problems, treated during the match, Matteo Berrettini (31) managed to get the better of the American Marcos Giron in three sets: 7-6 (3) 7-6 (6) 6-1 and again today he will meet Jack Draper (6) in a sort of derby between Jannik Sinner's "colleagues-friends".

After a day of rest today Flavio Cobolli (36) will also return to the field against Brandon Nakashima (32), while in the women's event Jasmine Paolini (6) will face the Greek Maria Sakkari (82).

Lorenzo Sonego's (47) run came to a halt yesterday, when he was defeated by the Australian Alex de Minaur (7) 2-6 3-6. Luciano Darderi, on the other hand, retired against the American Frances Tiafoe after the fifth game of the second set. The Italian had lost the first 7-5 and was 1-3 down.