Alex de Minaur continued his impressive rise on clay with a dominant win at the Madrid Open, while Novak Djokovic suffered another early exit that raised new questions about his future.
Australia’s No. 1 defeated Italian Lorenzo Sonego 6-2, 6-3 on Saturday in a clean, controlled performance. De Minaur made only nine unforced errors and looked almost Djokovic-like in his dismantling of Sonego.
Meanwhile, all the attention at the Caja Mágica turned to Djokovic. The 37-year-old Serbian star lost 6-3, 6-4 to Italian Matteo Arnaldi in his first match, marking his third straight defeat. His quest for 100 career titles took another hit, and afterwards, Djokovic even hinted that he might not return to Madrid next year.
De Minaur’s confidence on clay is clearly growing. After his 75-minute win, he wrote “Como en casa” (“Like home”) on a camera lens, showing how comfortable he feels on the surface. Based in Spain, the 26-year-old has reached the semifinals in Monte Carlo and the quarterfinals in Barcelona this season, and he now believes he can make a deep run in Madrid as well.
“I was very happy with how I settled mentally,” De Minaur said. “After losing my serve in the first game, I bounced back and ended up playing great tennis.”
He credited his strong serving as the key to victory: “Today was a great serving day for me, and it made my life a lot easier.”
De Minaur will now face Denis Shapovalov in the third round after the Canadian left-hander beat Kei Nishikori 6-1, 6-4.
Talking about his improvement on clay, De Minaur explained, “You see less unforced errors from me, and at the same time, you see me being a little bit more aggressive, able to hurt my opponents in different ways.”
For Djokovic, however, the struggles continue. After losing in the Miami Open final and falling in the first round in Monte Carlo, he produced another shaky performance, making 32 unforced errors.
“I’ve had a few of these this year where I lose in the first round, unfortunately,” Djokovic admitted. “Still, my level of tennis is not where I would like it to be.”
When asked if he had played his last match in Madrid, Djokovic was uncertain. “It could be, it could be. I’m not sure if I will come back. I might return, but maybe not as a player,” he said.
For Arnaldi, beating one of his idols was a dream come true. His simple message on the camera lens said it all: “OMG.”
Elsewhere in Madrid, Stefanos Tsitsipas fought back from a set down to beat Jan-Lennard Struff 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. Tsitsipas will face 10th seed Lorenzo Musetti next, after the Italian beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry 7-6 (7-3), 6-2.
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