Novak Djokovic’s return to the ATP Tour ended almost as soon as it began on Friday, with the 38-year-old Serbian falling 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 to 20-year-old Croatian qualifier Dino Prizmic in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
The defeat snapped an extraordinary 18-0 record in opening matches at the tournament and marked the first time in Djokovic’s career he has lost his first match in Rome.
The match. Playing his first competitive tennis in nearly two months, Djokovic looked sharp early, racing through the opening set in characteristic fashion against an opponent making his Rome main-draw debut.
The complexion changed in the second. According to multiple match reports, Djokovic appeared visibly unwell, with broadcasters and reporters at courtside noting he was nauseated and being sick on court at points during the set. His ground-stroke speed dropped, Prizmic took an early double break, and the Croatian leveled the match.
In the decider, Prizmic broke for 4-3, held his nerve, and served out the biggest win of his career at 5-4 to advance to the third round, where he will face the winner of Ugo Humbert against Vit Kopriva.
The aftermath. In his press conference, Djokovic declined to detail his physical condition but credited his opponent without reservation. “I want to congratulate Dino. Deservedly the winner today,” he said, telling reporters he was at least pleased he had “fought till the end.” Asked whether the second-set struggles affected the outcome, the Serbian deflected: “I hope you understand, I will not talk about that.”
He was franker about the broader picture. Djokovic told reporters he could not recall the last time he had entered a tournament without a physical or health issue, calling it “kind of a new reality that I have to deal with.”
He acknowledged he was a half-step short of where he wanted to be and conceded the preparation was not ideal, but said the decision to compete in that condition was his own.
The Roland Garros question. The result leaves Djokovic with a single match on clay heading into the French Open, which begins on Sunday, May 24. Asked whether he would add a warm-up tournament before Paris, the Serbian was non-committal, saying only that he hoped he would be fit and that his team would assess the next steps.
It is a sharp departure from 2025, when, after early exits in Monte Carlo and Madrid, he detoured to the Geneva Open, captured his 100th career title, and rode that momentum to the Roland Garros semi-finals.
The bigger picture. Friday’s loss was Djokovic’s third consecutive defeat at the Italian Open across recent editions and continues a 2026 pattern in which he has won the opening set in every loss before fading — a trend his post-match remarks tacitly acknowledged.
Prizmic, who first met Djokovic at the 2024 Australian Open and took a set off him then, has now delivered on the potential the Serbian himself identified two years ago.
For the six-time Rome champion, attention turns immediately to Paris, where he will arrive with the lightest clay-court preparation of his career and, at soon-to-be-39, mounting questions about whether the body will hold up over best-of-five.
