Novak Djokovic will be hoping for a better result when he returns to the Madrid Open this year.
Djokovic skipped the Miami Open and the Monte Carlo Masters, but he has been confirmed to return at the Madrid Open.
The Serbian has good memories at the Madrid Open, with Djokovic winning three titles at the Masters 1000 tournament.
However, Djokovic could not win his fourth title in the Spanish capital last year, as he lost his only match at the tournament.
Matteo Arnaldi has struggled since beating Novak Djokovic at the Madrid Open
Djokovic arrived at the Madrid Open last year searching for his first victory on clay in 2025, having lost his only match at the Monte Carlo Masters.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion was the fourth seed, and would play against Italian Matteo Arnaldi, who was the world number 44 at the time.
This was a first-time meeting between Djokovic and Arnaldi, and very few were expecting the outcome that ended up happening.
Arnaldi would beat Djokovic 6-3, 6-4, causing the latter’s worst result at the Madrid Open since 2018.
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This was not the end for Arnaldi, who would go on to beat Damir Dzumhur and Frances Tiafoe to reach the Madrid Open quarterfinals, where his run would be ended by Jack Draper.
Arnaldi, who has a career-high ranking of world number 30, was able to return to the top 40 as a result of his run in Madrid, but he has not been able to match that since then.
The 25-year-old has won only eight main draw matches on the ATP Tour since then, and Arnaldi is still without one in 2026.
While Arnaldi has won two qualifying matches this year, he is yet to win a main draw match on the ATP Tour in 2026, winning just one set in his five defeats this year.
| Matteo Arnaldi’s results in main draw matches in 2026 | |
| Australian Open | Andrey Rublev beat Arnaldi, 6-4 6-2 6-3 |
| Indian Wells | Mackenzie McDonald beat Arnaldi, 6-0 6-1 |
| Miami Open | Alexander Shevchenko beat Arnaldi, 7-6(5) 6(5)-7 6-2 |
| Romanian Open | Alex Molcan beat Arnaldi, 6-3 6-1 |
| Monte Carlo Masters | Cristian Garin beat Arnaldi, 6-2 6-4 |
Will Matteo Arnaldi return to the Madrid Open in 2026?
Arnaldi will have 200 points to defend at the Madrid Open this year after his run to the quarterfinals, but he may not actually play in the main draw.
As a result of his recent poor form, Arnaldi is the world number 105 and was unable to get direct entry into the Madrid Open main draw.
Instead, Arnaldi will have to play qualifying in Madrid and could be about to face a significant ranking drop.
Nearly a third of Arnaldi’s ranking points total come from reaching the Madrid Open quarterfinals last year, and he risks dropping out of the top 150 if he does not defend any of them.
Arnaldi will hope to recreate the positive memories he made at the Madrid Open last year when the qualifying draw gets underway on Monday, April 20.
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