The 6 men who lost their first 10 matches against Novak Djokovic as Taylor Fritz joins the list
Taylor Fritz has become the latest player to lose his first 10 head-to-head matches against Novak Djokovic, but he doesn’t have the worst H2H record against the tennis great.
Fresh from reaching his maiden Grand Slam final at the US Open, Fritz was hoping to finally get the better of Djokovic as they met in the semi-final of the Shanghai Masters.
“I’m due, because I’m only getting better and better,” the American said ahead of the clash and he gave as good as he got, especially in the second set, but it wasn’t to be as the 24-time Grand Slam winner came away with a 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) victory.
But the good news for Fritz is he is a long way away from having the worst record against Djokovic, but he is now part of an exclusive club of players who have lost 10 or more matches against Djokovic.
The 6 men who lost their first 10 matches against Novak Djokovic:
6. Taylor Fritz 0-10
Fritz played his first-ever match against Djokovic at the 2019 Monte Carlo Masters and he lost 6-3, 6-0. Two years later he took his first set off the tennis great, but still lost 7-6 (7-1), 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-2 in the round of 32 at the Australian Open.
In fact, Fritz has taken only three sets off Djokovic in their 10 meetings with the most recent one coming at the 2024 Australian Open when he lost 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the quarter-final.
They have played seven best-of-three set matches and Djokovic won all seven in straight sets.
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5. Milos Raonic 0-12
Canadian Raonic and Djokovic met 12 times from 2013 until 2021 and the latter won all 12 matches with the first a 7-6 (7-1), 6-2, 6-2 Davis Cup win for Serbia.
Raonic has managed to win four sets against Djokovic, including a 6-1 opening set at the 2020 Cincinnati Open final, but the Serbian went on to lift the trophy with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
Their last encounter was in the round of 16 at the 2021 Australian Open en route to Djokovic’s ninth title at Melbourne Park as he won their clash 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
4. Andreas Seppi 0-12
Italian Andreas Seppi retired without managing to beat Novak Djokovic in their 12 matches from 2006 until 2016.
Djokovic only made his top-level debut in 2005 and the following year he claimed his first win over Seppi as he won 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 in Rotterdam.
Seppi managed to win only four sets against Djokovic and his final defeat was at the 2016 Australian Open as he lost 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 (8-6).
3. Jeremy Chardy 0-14
Another player with a 100% losing record against Djokovic is Frenchman Jeremy Chardy.
Djokovic has played 33 sets against Chardy and he has won all 33 sets. In fact, Chardy has managed to take only three sets to a tie-breaker.
The Serbian’s first win over the Frenchman was at the 2009 Australian Open as he won 7-5, 6-1, 6-3 and 12 years later their final match came at the same event with Djokovic again coming out victorious with a 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 scoreline.
2. Marin Cilic – 2-19
The good news for Marin Cilic is that he is the only player on this list who has managed to beat Djokovic, but the bad news is he only won his first match after he had lost the first 14 clashes.
Djokovic won their first encounter 6-4, 6-3 in Dubai in 2008 and he would win 14 matches in a row, although Cilic did give him a back scare at Wimbledon in 2014 as he was two sets to one up before the Serbian won 6-1, 3-6, 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-2.
It would take Cilic until the 2016 Paris Masters to finally beat Djokovic as he won 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) and one win became two as he also won their next encounter in the 2008 Queen’s Club final.
But Djokovic won their next six matches, including the most recent Tel Aviv final in 2022.
1. Gael Monfils 0-19
It started well for Gael Monfils as the first time they met was in 2004, but it was not at the top-level as it was an ITF match in Italy and the Frenchman won 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2.
Their first official top-level match was at the 2005 US Open and Monfils even won a set 6-0, but Djokovic won the war 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 0-6, 7-5.
And it has been one-way traffic since then, but Monfils has managed to win nine sets against the Serbian.
Their last match was in the round of 16 at the 2023 Cincinnati Open and Djokovic won 6-3, 6-2 and after the match the Frenchman managed to nab Djokovic’s shirt as a souvenir.
It was even signed by the great man himself and he had a message after going 19-0 up as he wrote “sorry not sorry”.
