Berrettini beats Djokovic for the first time. Matteo wins in Doha and flies to the eighth-finals

Rome, 18 February 2025 - Matteo Berrettini unleashed in Doha: beat Novak Djokovic: 7-6(4) 6-2 in 1h35' of play and qualifies for the round of 16. The Italian tennis player, number 34 in the world, defeated for the first time in his career the Serbian champion.

Nole, third seed at the tournament, exits in the first round of the "Qatar Exxon Mobil Open", ATP 500 with a prize money of $3.035.960 underway on the hard courts of the Al Khalifa Tennis Complex in Doha.

Djokovic had previously beaten Berrettini 4 times out of 4, including the historic final of Wimbledon 2021, the year in which he also won in the quarterfinals of the US Open, the last confrontation between the two to date.

Matteo's joy: "Something I've wanted to do for years"

"Beat Novak It's one of the things I've been aspiring to do for years. I played against him in some of the biggest tournaments in the world, it was an honor to share the court with him even if I would have liked to win at least one of those matches. I worked very hard to get back here and at this level, all the work done in the last few months has paid off, and today it showed. I just missed playing matches, especially like this one. And the most important thing is that I enjoyed every moment", commented Matteo Berrettini on his success. "Novak is a champion, he is always ready to come back and you saw what happened on the first match point. In those moments you just have to think about winning the next point and that's what I did."