On the Sunday before the 2020 Vienna tournament, Lorenzo Sonego lost in the final round of qualifying to Aljaz Bedene. He got into the main draw anyway, as a lucky loser in the place of Diego Schwartzman. On the Friday he beat the world No. 1, Novak Djokovic, 6-2, 6-1 in 68 minutes.
Djokovic’s only opening came in the second set, when he had six break points across two of Sonego’s service games. Sonego saved all six. He was the first lucky loser ever to beat Djokovic, according to the ATP Tour, and he was 42nd in the world. “For sure it’s the best victory of my life. Novak is the best in the world,” he said on court. He also talked about the court: “It’s so fast for my serve.”
Djokovic had all but secured the year-end No. 1 ranking by winning his first two matches that week, and said afterwards that clinching it “had an effect on me”. Sonego went on to reach the final.
Turin and a late start
Sonego is from Turin and a Torino FC supporter. He did not start playing tennis until he was 11, and he did not earn an ATP ranking point until he was 19, according to the ATP Tour. His father, Giorgio, was his main influence in taking up the game. He grew up idolising Roger Federer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and the footballer Ronaldinho.
His first ATP title came on grass in Antalya in 2019, where he saved a championship point against Miomir Kecmanovic in the final and moved into the top 50. His best year was 2021. He won 30 matches, won the title in Cagliari and reached his career-high ranking of No. 21 that October. According to the ATP Tour, he was the first Italian to win a singles title on home soil since 2006. He won Metz in 2022 without dropping a set. In 2024 he won Winston-Salem, again without dropping a set, beating Alex Michelsen in the final. Those are his four tour titles.
Melbourne 2025
Sonego reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the 2025 Australian Open, at 29, in his 26th major main draw. On the way he beat former champion Stan Wawrinka, Joao Fonseca and Learner Tien, who had put out Daniil Medvedev. The Tien match finished 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, and Tien was struggling physically for most of it. “I’m so sad because he had some problems and this is not the right way to win, but I am so happy to reach the quarterfinals,” Sonego said.
The ATP Tour says the run made him the oldest Italian man to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal since Martin Mulligan at Roland Garros in 1970. Ben Shelton ended it 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(4).
Davis Cup 2023
In the 2023 Davis Cup semifinal in Malaga, Italy and Serbia were level at 1-1 after Jannik Sinner saved three match points against Djokovic in the singles. The tie went to a deciding doubles. Sonego partnered Sinner against Djokovic and Miomir Kecmanovic, and they won 6-3, 6-4 to put Italy into the final for the first time since 1998. Italy beat Australia the next day for their first title since 1976.
Playing style
Sonego is a right-hander with a two-handed backhand. He names the serve and the forehand as his favourite shots and clay as his favourite surface, though his signature wins came on hard courts and grass. He also comes forward. During his 2025 Australian Open run, Australian Associated Press noted that, for a player from a nation raised on clay, he was among the most frequent net-rushers left in the draw, and that he had won a higher percentage of net points than anyone still in it.
At Roland Garros in 2023 he came back from two sets down against seventh seed Andrey Rublev, 5-7, 0-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3. Away from the court he releases music with a close friend. “I work on my music with my best friend and it is really good,” he told ATPTour.com in 2023.
Grand Slam best results
- Australian Open: quarterfinal (2025)
- Roland Garros: fourth round (2020, 2023)
- Wimbledon: fourth round (2021, 2025)
- US Open: second round
Season snapshot — 19 September 2026
Ranked 89th going into the US Open, where he drew the top seed, Alexander Zverev, in the first round and nearly beat him. Zverev served at 4-5, 30-30 in the fourth set, two points from defeat, before winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(7), 7-5, 6-4 in four hours and 53 minutes. Our report from that night has the detail. Zverev went on to win the title, and the Asian swing comes next.
This snapshot is dated and will change. The career record above does not.
