Day Three at the Foro Italico delivered a couple of surprises as the 2026 Italian Open continued under rainy Roman skies.
The biggest story was Novak Djokovic’s second-round exit; the 24-time Grand Slam champion was beaten by Croatian qualifier Dino Prizmic, who fought back from a set down to claim one of the biggest wins of his young career.
The Italian fans had plenty to cheer about, too, as wild card Matteo Arnaldi produced a gritty, high-quality comeback victory over sixth seed Alex de Minaur in a tense three-setter on Campo Centrale.
Most of the other top seeds navigated their matches safely with solid performances from Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud, while Griekspoor was the only other seeded player to fall.
Full recap of the day below
Day Three Italian Open 2026 Round of 64 Results
Winner
Loser
Score
Lorenzo Musetti (8)
Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard
6-4 6-4
Francisco Cerundolo (25)
Alejandro Tabilo
6-0 6-2
Casper Ruud (23)
Zachary Svajda
6-1 6-3
Jiri Lehecka (11)
Jan-Lennard Struff
7-6(4) 6-3
Karen Khachanov (13)
Alexander Shevchenko
6-4 6-4
Botic van de Zandschulp
Aleksandar Kovacevic (LL)
2-6 6-2 7-6(5)
Ugo Humbert (31)
Vit Kopriva
6-3 6-2
Dino Prizmic (Q)
Novak Djokovic (3)
2-6 6-2 6-4
Matteo Arnaldi (WC)
Alex de Minaur (6)
4-6 7-6(5) 6-4
Rafael Jodar (32)
Nuno Borges
7-6(4) 6-4
Learner Tien (19)
Damir Dzumhur
6-2 6-1
Alexander Bublik (9)
Sebastian Baez
6-1 6-2
Tommy Paul (16)
Aleksandar Vukic
6-4 6-2
Luciano Darderi (18)
Yannick Hanfmann
6-4 6-4
Alexander Blockx
Tallon Griekspoor (29)
6-7(5) 6-3 6-4
Alexander Zverev (2)
Daniel Altmaier
7-5 6-3
Key Match Recap
Alexander Zverev (2) def. Daniel Altmaier 7-5 6-3
Zverev had to work hard for his victory after a rain delay. Altmaier pushed him aggressively, broke serve in both sets, and made the German feel physically uncomfortable. Zverev showed his class by raising his level in the key moments, finishing with 26 winners. He improves to 4-1 in the H2H and has a solid enough start after his Madrid loss.
Matteo Arnaldi (WC) def. Alex de Minaur (6) 4-6 7-6(5) 6-4
The biggest upset of the day. The Italian wild card came through in a high-quality, three-set battle to knock out sixth seed De Minaur. This is only Arnaldi’s second tour-level win of 2026 and takes him into the third round in Rome for the first time. A massive boost for the home crowd.
Rafael Jodar (32) def. Nuno Borges 7-6(4) 6-4
The 19-year-old Spaniard continued his breakout season with a very composed win. After a tight first set decided in the tiebreak, Jodar took control and sealed the victory. He is now 13-2 on clay at the tour level this season, and Borges isn’t easy to put away on clay.
Dino Prizmic (Q) def. Novak Djokovic (3) 2-6 6-2 6-4
The standout result of the day was a massive upset. The young Croatian qualifier came back after losing the first set to knock out Novak Djokovic in the second round.
Prizmic raised his level significantly in the final two sets and took advantage of whatever sickness or physical issue Djokovic was having.
I thought Novak played a great first set, but then all of a sudden he looked like he was about to throw up. He basically tanked the second set but brought his game back in the third.
However, Prizmic had the momentum on his side, and he didn’t let up, keeping his shots coming throughout, which paid off as Djoker would have taken advantage if he had not.
Post match Novak said that is it for his French Open lead in, no Geneva this year he is off straigth to Paris. Not ideal prep.
Highlights
Italian Open 2026 Day 4 Round of 64 Matches
Tomáš Macháč vs Daniil Medvedev (7) — Campo Centrale
Jannik Sinner (1) vs Sebastian Ofner — Campo Centrale
Felix Auger-Aliassime (4) vs Mariano Navone — BNP Paribas Arena
Flavio Cobolli (10) vs Terence Atmane — BNP Paribas Arena
Andrea Pellegrino (Q) vs Arthur Fils (15) — BNP Paribas Arena
Andrey Rublev (12) vs Miomir Kecmanovic — Supertennis Arena
Tomas Martin Etcheverry (24) vs Mattia Bellucci — Supertennis Arena
Nikoloz Basilashvili (Q) vs Ben Shelton (5) — Supertennis Arena
Hamad Medjedovic vs Joao Fonseca (27) — Supertennis Arena
Alexei Popyrin vs Jakub Mensik (26) — Supertennis Arena
Thiago Agustin Tirante vs Cameron Norrie (17) — Pietrangeli
Marin Cilic vs Martin Landaluce (LL) — Pietrangeli
Frances Tiafoe (20) vs Ignacio Buse — Pietrangeli
Corentin Moutet (28) vs Pablo Llamas Ruiz (Q) — Court 1
Cristian Garin (Q) vs Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (21) — Court 1
Brandon Nakashima (30) vs Roberto Bautista Agut — Court 1