The 13 first-round defeats Novak Djokovic has suffered during his career as incredible streak ends
Let’s start off with a disclaimer: Novak Djokovic has lost 25 opening-round matches during his professional career, but not all of those matches were in the first round of events.
As one of the world’s best players, Djokovic has a lot of byes in the first round so he would only start his campaign in the second round.
For example, before his defeat to Matteo Berrettini at the Qatar Open, Djokovic also lost his opening match against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at the 2022 Monte Carlo Masters, but that was a second-round match he was the top seed and had an opening-round bye.
With that out of the way, Djokovic has suffered only 13 first-round losses in his career with Berrettini ending a run of just over eight years.
He has lost eight first-round matches on hard courts, four on clay and none on grass.
Novak Djokovic’s 13 first-round losses:
1. Umag – 2004
A 17-year-old Novak Djokovic played in his first ATP Tour event in July 2004 in Croatia.
After coming through qualifying, the future world No 1 – ranked at No 368 at the time – suffered a 7-6 (7-5) defeat to world No 65 Filippo Volandri in the first round.
2. Bangkok – 2004
After winning his maiden Tour-level match against world No 67 Arnaut Clement in Bucharest before a second-round exit at the hands of David Ferrer in mid-September 2004, Djokovic next competed at the Thailand Open after being handed a wildcard.
He was up against world No 81 Dennis Van Scheppingen and lost 6-4, 5-7, 4-6.
3. Australian Open – 2005
The Serbian then came through qualifying to make his maiden Grand Slam main draw appearance and he was handed a tough encounter as he faced fourth seed Marat Safin.
He lost 6-0, 6-2, 6-1 in one hour and 14 minutes, but three years later he won the title at Melbourne Park and has since gone on to win 10 Australian Open trophies in total.
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4. Valencia – 2005
Djokovic played a couple of Challenger Tour and Davis Cup matches after the Australian Open before returning to the ATP Tour in April and took on world No 114 Antony Dupuis.
The Frenchman beat the qualifier – then ranked No 160 – 6-4, 7-5.
5. Cincinnati – 2005
Djokovic then won his maiden Grand Slam match at the Roland Garros before losing in the second round while he also picked up two wins at Wimbledon.
His next first-round defeat was at the Cincinnati Masters as he made his ATP 1000 debut after again coming through qualifier.
This time he was beaten 3-6, 7-6 (7-9), 6-4 by world No 18 Fernando Gonzalez.
6. Australian Open – 2006
After qualifying outright for the season-opening Grand Slam thanks to his ranking of 76, he kicked off the 2006 campaign with another first-round loss.
World No 68 Paul Goldstein accounted for his 6-2, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 exit.
7. Indian Wells – 2006
After that Melbourne loss, Djokovic reached the semi-final in Zagreb and the quarter-final in Rotterdam before losing in round one again.
Qualifier Julien Benneteau defeated world No 67 Djokovic 6-3, 6-4.
8. Monte Carlo – 2006
A first-ever meeting against Roger Fededer, the reigning world No 1 at the time, took place on the clay at the Monte Carlo Masters.
Qualifier Djokovic threatened an upset after claiming the second set, but the experienced Federer eventually won 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
9. Barcelona – 2006
World No 178 Daniel Gimeno Traver accounted for Djokovic’s ninth first-round loss at the top as the Spanish qualifier beat Djokovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 at the ATP 500 event.
10. Marseille – 2007
Djokovic started to grow as a player during the back-end of the 2006 campaign and his next first-round exit came in February 2007.
He had surged up the rankings as he was at No 14 and seeded fourth for the ATP 250 tournament.
Mikhail Youzhny, though, claimed a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-0) victory.
11. Brisbane – 2009
With Djokovic winning several tournaments that saw him surge into the top 10, it meant he often had byes in the first round of matches.
His next shocker opening loss came at Brisbane when world No 53 Ernests Gulbis sent him packing with a6-4, 6-4
12. Rio – 2016
It would take another seven years before Djokovic would lose in the first round of a tournament and this time it came at the Rio Games, but the top seed was handed a shocker of an opening match.
He took on Juan Martin del Potro, who had slipped to outside the top 100 of the ATP Rankings, and the Argentine won 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2).
13. Qatar – 2025
There is a 16-year gap between Djokovic’s previous ATP-level first-round defeat and his loss in Qatar as the Rio Olympics is not organised by the ATP, but by the ITF.
This was Djokovic’s first tournament since he sustained a hamstring injury at the Australian Open and he crashed to a 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 defeat.
