It was a tough test for the Serbian to start his campaign, especially given it was his first match since retiring from his Australian Open semi-final due to a hamstring injury.

Djokovic fought hard, but he could not stop the onslaught from Berrettini, who struck 19 forehand winners on a 7-6(4), 6-2 victory.

Laura Robson predicts Novak Djokovic’s mindset after Qatar Open defeat

Novak Djokovic has suffered two surprising defeats in 2025 so far.

The former World number one was defeated by Reilly Opelka in the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International.

This came approximately six weeks after his loss to Berrettini, who will play Britain’s Jack Draper in the Qatar Open quarter-finals.

Despite losing a difficult match, Eurosport’s Laura Robson does not believe it will affect Djokovic much as he prepares to play the ‘Sunshine double’ of Indian Wells Masters and Miami Open in March.

“I think that’s the main positive for Novak, the fact that he’s feeling healthy on the court, again. I don’t know that he is overly bothered about losing early in Doha when you consider all the tournaments that he’s won and all his accolades in his career,” Robson said.

“I don’t know that he’ll take much time to get over this one. So I imagine he’s spoken about it in the past, that he really wants to focus on the fact that he wants to get to 25, and that’s the big goal for this year rather than a small ATP event in the Middle East.”

Novak Djokovic makes ‘no excuses’ following Qatar Open defeat

Djokovic had no answer for the blistering power coming from Berrettini’s racket.

The Olympic champion had won all four of their previous encounters but the Italian ensured it would not be a fifth successive defeat.

Djokovic won just 30% of points behind his second serve and he struggled to have the required impact to turn the match in his favour.

Post-match, Djokovic was not happy with his level of play, but credited his opponent for an excellent performance.

“Yes, I wasn’t at my desired level, and it could be that I’m still not moving the way I want to move, but, I mean, I played without pain, so there is no excuse in that,” he said.

“He was just the better player. I think he played a master class match, to be honest, tactically, and served very well, so just a very deserved win from his side.”