‘(Novak) Djokovic Officially Washed’ – ATP Qatar Shocker Sparks Fan Fury as They Unleash Verbal Wrath on the Serb

Matteo Berrettini stuns the 24-time Grand Slam champion in Doha! After years of battling with injuries, it seems the 28-year-old Italian has finally found his A-game. He literally thrashed Novak Djokovic by 7-6(4),6-2 in the R32 of the 2025 Qatar Open. This was Berrettini’s first Top 10 win since 2023 and quite naturally, he was ecstatic. “It’s something that I’ve been looking to do,” the Italian said shortly after his emphatic triumph. While Berrettini was on cloud nine, for Djokovic, it was a massive disappointment again! And the fans weren’t pleased.

This was Berrettini’s fifth meeting with Djokovic, and guess what? It was also his first career win over the former world number 1. Speaking more about this incredible victory, Berrettini said, “I worked really hard to be back here, to be back at this level. I knew my level was high. I just needed matches and matches like this. All the hard work that I’ve been putting in the last months, in the last days, it worked pretty well today. So I’m really happy with my performance. I’m really happy because I enjoyed my time out there, which is the most important thing.“

With this win, the Italian is now all set to face the Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor in the R16 of the 2025 Qatar Open. Can he secure a victory in that match and make his way to the QF? Time will tell! However, if we look at the other side, this was Novak Djokovic’s first opening-round loss since April 2022. Not only that, this was also his first defeat in his opening match at a hard-court tournament since the 2018 Miami Open. The Serb is clearly not having a good time at the moment!

It was not too long ago that Djokovic took a mid-match retirement against Alexander Zverev in the Australian Open semis due to a muscle tear. “Towards the end of the first set, I started to feel much stronger pain; it was too much,” he had revealed in the post-match press conference in Melbourne. But the recovery was pretty quick as he got fit in time for Doha. However, his struggle with form continued!

Djokovic won back-to-back titles at the Qatar Open in 2016 and 2017, so seeing him make an early exit has drawn in several reactions from tennis fans. What are they saying?

Novak Djokovic’s early exit from the Qatar Open has left fans wondering about his fitness

Is Djokovic still not fully fit? Fans were curious to know what could be the possible reason behind his poor performance against Matteo Berrettini. Addressing all these curiosities during the post-match press conference, Djokovic admitted, “I didn’t have any pain or discomfort in that sense. I was outplayed by just a better player today. 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 for that.”

He even heaped praise on Berrettini by saying, “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.” However, after seeing Berrettini’s dominating performance against the Serb, some of the fans stated he, “Puts Novak to sleep. Night night!“

Last year, Djokovic’s one and only glorious moment was clinching the gold medal at the Paris Olympics. He failed to win any other title during the season. In fact, it was the first time since 2017 that the Serb didn’t clinch a Grand Slam title. His struggles with form and fitness prompted a fan to say, “Retire faker grandpa for your own sake.“

Just a few days ago while speaking about what really keeps him going at this age, Djokovic said, “Primarily, it’s because of my love for tennis and for sports. Secondly, I believe that tennis helps me grow the most as a person – no matter how strange that may sound.” He also admitted that being on the court gives him the sort of thrill that he doesn’t get anywhere else. His fans want to see him clinch a few more titles before putting an end to his illustrious career. But after a disappointing result in the opening round in Doha, a fan wrote, “Djokovic officially washed.” Although Novak Djokovic put on a fight in the first set, he couldn’t do much in the second set. Another fan wondered, “Djokovic played maybe 50% of his potential 🤷🏻‍♂️.”

After Djokovic’s disappointing outing in Doha, some of the fans aren’t sure about the future of Andy Murray in his team. However, the 37-year-old cleared the air in that regard. “I expressed my desire to continue the collaboration with him so I am really glad he did accept. It’s indefinite in terms of how long we are going to work together but we agreed we are going to work most likely in the [United] States and then some clay-court tournaments and see how it goes after that,” he revealed.

Djokovic will next be seen in action probably at the Indian Wells Masters. Can Murray help him clinch his sixth title over there? We’ll see! However, recently the Serb has been in the news for one more reason. Just a couple of days ago, Djokovic broke his silence over Jannik Sinner’s doping ban. He revealed that most of the players are “not satisfied” with the decision and they believe there has been “favoritism.” Djokovic even spoke about the “lack of trust” that’s there among the players now while dealing with the tennis authorities and the anti-doping agencies.

After his exit from the singles event in Doha, a fan highlighted Djokovic’s remarks on Sinner’s ban and said, “He was too busy nonsense speaking about Jannik. Let’s be understanding for this loss lol.”

Although Novak Djokovic failed to deliver in the singles event in Doha, he will still have a chance to regain his rhythm in the doubles event of the Qatar Open where he will team up with the Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco. They’ve already won their first match and are now all set to take on reigning Wimbledon champion, Harri Heliovaara and Henry Pattern in the QF.

Can Djokovic overcome the disappointment of his singles exit with a title triumph at the doubles event in Doha? What do you think?