The Serb was looking to bounce back from a “horrible” loss in Monaco earlier this month, where he crashed out to Alejandro Tabilo and explained that, while his expectations were low, he never thought he’d play “this bad”.
Djokovic arrived early in Madrid with Murray in tow, giving themselves plenty of time to prepare. Once again, the 37-year-old confessed he didn’t have great expectations for the tournament, though he hopes to improve and peak in time for the French Open.
But he suffered another blow on Saturday, going out to Arnaldi to start the clay wing with a 0-2 record. It was an error-strewn performance from Djokovic, who looked flat as he hit 20 unforced errors to lose the opening set.
The No. 4 seed was broken in his first service game but broke straight back, surviving an early wobble. However, back-to-back double faults at 3-4 gave Arnaldi another break and allowed him to serve for the set, and he duly obliged.
There were some special faces in the crowd – as well as having Murray in his box, Djokovic’s son Stefan watched the match courtside, and a-lister Eva Longoria was also spotted in the crowd on the Manolo Santana Stadium.
Murray continued to offer words of encouragement and tactical advice from Djokovic’s box. There were still some moments of brilliance.
At 2-3 in the second set, the Serb ran Arnaldi around the court in a thrilling 19-shot exchange. Djokovic chased down a drop shot before winning the point courtesy of an error from his opponent, and touched his ear to get the crowd going.
But it didn’t last long, and he was broken two games later. The 24-time Grand Slam champion had a better response this time, immediately carving out three break-back points.
Arnaldi snuffed them out, however, winning five points in a row to pull ahead.
The 24-year-old showed no nerves as he stepped up to serve for the match, taking it at the second time of asking as Djokovic sent a return well outside of the tramlines.
The three-time former champion was in good spirits in defeat, embracing Arnaldi at the net and congratulating him on his win. Djokovic waved to the fans on the Manolo Santana Stadium before disappearing down the tunnel.
Arnaldi had a fitting response, writing “OMG” on the camera lens in celebration.
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