5 players who have defeated Novak Djokovic at the Italian Open ft. Rafael Nadal & Andy Murray

Novak Djokovic collected his 38th Masters title on tour as he won the final of the 2022 Italian Open against Stefanos Tsitsipas. It was the Serb's sixth title in Rome and his fifth consecutive win against Tsitsipas on clay.

The World No. 1 has a win-rate of 86% at the Masters event in Rome. In his first ever appearance in Rome, Djokovic lost in the second round of qualifying to wildcard Fabio Fognini in 2006. Two years later, Djokovic won his maiden claycourt Masters title in Rome against Stan Wawrinka in the final.

The Serb has an excellent record at the event, therefore losing to only a small list of players. Let's take a look at five players who have defeated Djokovic in Rome.

#1 Rafael Nadal

Nadal and Djokovic at the Internazionali BNL D'Italia 2021 - Day Nine

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have met each other nine times at the Rome Masters. The Spaniard has won six of these encounters. Out of their nine meetings, six matches took place in the finals. The 21-time Slam titlist has won four of those matches.

The duo met in the final last year and Nadal won the match to complete his La Decima (10 titles) in Rome. Djokovic's three wins against Nadal at the Italian Open came in the 2011 and 2014 finals and the quarterfinals in 2016.

#2 Fernando Verdasco

Fernando Verdasco has won four matches against Djokovic

Fernando Verdasco has faced Djokovic 15 times in his career and has won only four times against the 20-time Slam winner. They have faced each other six times on clay, both defeating each other three times. In 2010, they faced each other in the quarterfinals in their only meeting in Rome till date. After 3 hours and 18 minutes, Verdasco defeated Djokovic 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-4.

#3 Tomas Berdych

Berdych won only three matches against Djokovic while losing 25

A head-to-head of 25-3 suggests that Djokovic has almost always felt comfortable when he faced Tomas Berdych. The Czech first defeated Djokovic in the 2010 Wimbledon semifinals to reach his maiden Slam final. In 2013, Berdych scored his second win against Djokovic in Rome in the quarterfinals.

The duo's only meeting in Rome began with the Serb taking the first set 6-2. However, the Czech took the next two sets and needed 142 minutes to seal his second victory against Djokovic. The two last met in the 2017 Wimbledon quarterfinals, which Berdych won after Djokovic retired in the second set.

#4 Andy Murray

Andy Murray and Djokovic have contested finals in each big event (Masters and Slams)

Andy Murray has arguably been one of Novak Djokovic's greatest nemesis. The former World No. 1 trails Djokovic 11-25 in the head-to-head record but has played several incredibly tight matches against the Serb. The six-time Italian Open champion leads the Brit 5-1 on clay. A week before the 2016 Rome Masters, Djokovic had defeated Murray in the Madrid Open final.

The two drew each other yet again in the finals in Rome. It was their second meeting in Rome since their 2011 semifinal clash, which Djokovic won in three sets.

However, Murray defeated the defending champion in straight sets to win his second and final Masters title on clay. A couple of weeks later, Djokovic would defeat Murray for the second time in a Slam final that year to claim his maiden Roland Garros title.

#5 Alexander Zverev

Zverev at the Internazionali BNL D'Italia 2022 - Day Seven

The 2017 Rome Masters final was the first meeting between Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev. The young German was contesting his first ever Masters final. Against all odds, Zverev stunned Djokovic, winning in straight sets to claim his maiden Masters 1000 title.

Djokovic won their last meeting on clay at the 2019 Roland Garros quarterfinals while Zverev won their last match in the semifinals of the 2021 ATP Finals in three sets.

Novak Djokovic has not lost before the quarterfinals in Rome since his first main draw appearance at the event in 2007. After defeating Tsitsipas in the 2022 Rome Masters final, the 34-year-old became the oldest champion of the event.

It was also the third time in his career that Novak Djokovic scored a bagel (6-0 set) in the final of a Masters event. Now a winner of 1001 match wins on the ATP tour, the two-time Golden Masters winner couldn't have wished for better preparation ahead of the French Open. The two-time career Slam winner reflected on his sixth Rome title:

"Like the previous years I knew that my best shape on the clay usually comes around Rome time. It couldn't be a better time to come into Roland-Garros with a title in this wonderful tournament," Novak Djokovic said.

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