Sawt Falasteen - Berrettini ends Djokovic comeback at Qatar Open

Djokovic, who was seeded third and received a first-round bye, was playing his first match since limping out of his Australian Open semi-final in January.

It was only Berrettini's second win this year and his first over a player in the top 10 since 2023.

It was also the Italian's first ever win over Djokovic. Their previous encounters included victories for the Serb in the Wimbledon final and Roland Garros quarterfinals both in 2021.

"Something I've been looking to do for a long time. I've played against him in the most important tournaments on tour," the 28-year-old Italian said on court after the victory. "I wish I could have won one of those matches,"

Berrettini has struggled with injuries over the last 18 months but won three tournaments after returning to court last year.

"Really happy with my performance," he said. "Really happy because I enjoyed my time out there, which is the most important thing."

The first set went with serve but Berrettini took two points off Djokovic's serve to win the tiebreak.

The Italian then broke to love in the second game of the second set. Djokovic had broken Berrettini 27 times in their four previous encounters but the Italian was comfortable on serve until the final game before finally winning on his second match point.

"A champion like Novak is always ready to come back," Berrettini said. "You don't have to think about match point. You have to think about the next point, and that's what I did."

Earlier in the day, Djokovic said that Andy Murray would continue as his coach "indefinitely".

"I expressed my desire to continue the collaboration with him so I am really glad he did accept," said Djokovic.

- 'It's cold. It's windy' -

Alex de Minaur celebrated his birthday by beating Russian Roman Safiullin 6-1, 7-5, even though the Australian did not enjoy the weather.

"They're tough days, these ones," said De Minaur. "It's cold, it's windy, you probably don't want to get out of bed. But once you step on court, you have to do everything you can to win. Whether it's ugly or pretty tennis, you just put the ball in the court, and that's what I did today."

"Out went any sort of tactics you had for the match and it was all about surviving more than anything."

World No.6 Daniil Medvedev eliminated compatriot and defending champion Karen Khachanov 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Medvedev, who worn the tournament in 2023, scored his first victory over a top-30 player in 2025.

Medvedev, the former world No.1, has not won a tournament since the Rome Masters in spring 2023. He was knocked out in the second round of this year's Australian Open by teenage American Learner Tien.

In match of long rallies, Medvedev did not carve out a break point until the 12th game of the second set, by which time he was a set down. He took his chance and then went on attack in the third set to win in two hours 30 minutes.

A third Russian former champion, Andrey Rublev, the fifth seed, beat Alexander Bublik 6-3, 6-4.

P.Tamimi--SF-PST