Croatian qualifier Dino Prizmic surprised his childhood hero Novak Djokovic 2-6 6-2 6-4 within the second spherical of the Italian Open on Friday, because the Serbian struggled with exhaustion and backhand errors in his first match on clay this yr. It was the primary time Djokovic misplaced his opening match on the Italian Open in 19 appearances.
The six-time champion, taking part in for the primary time since March, took the primary set however was outplayed by the more and more aggressive 20-year-old who took management of the competition with highly effective forehand winners. “Huge respect for Novak, he is my idol, so it was undoubtedly an excellent match for me,” mentioned Prizmic, who’s 79th within the rankings.
Prizmic, who beat Marton Fucsovics within the first spherical, raced to a 4-0 lead en path to successful the second set. The fourth-ranked Serb handed Prizmic the decisive break within the third set with two backhand errors. Prizmic held his nerves as he constructed on his 3-2 lead, and secured victory with an ace.
“I performed unbelievable. I simply wish to keep centered and to be prepared for the subsequent one,” mentioned Prizmic, who additionally beat world quantity six Ben Shelton on the Madrid Open final month. Djokovic will proceed his quest for a document twenty fifth Grand Slam on the French Open from Could 24, two days after he turns 39.
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