Croatian qualifier Dino Prizmic stunned his childhood hero \u2060Novak Djokovic 2-6 6-2 6-4 in the second round of the Italian Open \u200con Friday, as the Serbian struggled with exhaustion \u200cand backhand errors in his first \u200cmatch on clay this year.<\/p>\n
It was the \u200cfirst time Djokovic<\/a> lost his opening match \u200cat the Italian Open in 19 appearances.<\/p>\n The six-time champion, playing for the first time \u200csince March, took the first set \u2060but was \u200coutplayed by the increasingly aggressive 20-year-old who took \u200bcontrol of the contest with powerful forehand winners.<\/p>\n “Big respect for Novak, \u200bhe’s my idol, so it was definitely a great match for me,” said Prizmic<\/a>, \u2060who is \u200b79th in the rankings.<\/p>\n Prizmic, who beat Marton Fucsovics<\/a> in the first round, raced to a 4-0 lead en route to winning \u200cthe second set.<\/p>\n The fourth-ranked Serb handed Prizmic the decisive break in the third set with two backhand errors. Prizmic held his nerves as he built on his 3-2 lead, and secured victory with an ace.<\/p>\n “I played unbelievable. I just want to stay focused and to be \u200cready for the next one,” said Prizmic, \u200bwho also beat world number six \u200cBen Shelton<\/a> at the Madrid Open last month.<\/p>\n Djokovic will continue his quest for a record 25th Grand Slam at the French Open from May 24, \u2060two days after \u2060he turns 39.<\/p>\n