This match on the centre court of the Foro Italico complex on Friday was their second meeting, following the one played in 2024 in the first round of the Australian Open, when Prižmić impressed Đokovic with his performance and kept him on court for four hours at Rod Laver Arena, but ultimately was beaten by the Serbian tennis player.
With today's victory over Novak, the 20-year-old Dino Prižmić reached the third round of a Masters 1000 tournament for the second consecutive event, where he will face the winner of the match between Frenchman Ugo Humbert (ATP No. 33) and Czech player Vít Kopřiva (ATP No. 55).
"For me, it is hard to know what to say. I have big respect for Novak. He is my idol, so it was a great match for me today," qualifier Prižmić said. "I played unbelievable and I want to stay focused and be ready for the next one."
"First set he played unbelievable and at the end of the set I tried to find my game and I did it, so it is very, very good."
In Madrid, the player from Split was stopped in the third round by Argentine Tomás Martín Etcheverry, after defeating the world’s sixth-ranked player, Ben Shelton.