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The only three players who are unbeaten against Novak Djokovic after facing him more than once as Alejandro Tabilo joins exclusive group

Novak Djokovic of Serbia shows his dejection against Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands. Inset, Alejandro Tabilo and two mystery players.
Credit: Getty Images/Clive Brunskill/Mateo Villalba
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Alejandro Tabilo has put his name in the history books after beating Novak Djokovic at the Monte Carlo Masters.

Tabilo overcame nerves to beat Djokovic, backing up his win in the first round over another Grand Slam champion in Stan Wawrinka.

The Chilean was only broken in the first game of the match, with Tabilo serving well against Djokovic to keep the world number five at bay.

Tabilo had a poor start to the season, but has now made history after beating Djokovic once again.

Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters - Day Four
Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Alejandro Tabilo joins exclusive group of players after beating Novak Djokovic

This is not the first time that Tabilo has beaten Djokovic, having also done so last year at the Italian Open.

Those are the only two times that Tabilo has played Djokovic, as he makes history as only the third player in history to go unbeaten against the 24-time major winner after playing him more than once.

Marat Safin, who is now coaching Andrey Rublev, also beat Djokovic in their two meetings that came on hard courts.

This includes Djokovic’s first ever Grand Slam match at the 2005 Australian Open, as well as at Wimbledon in 2008.

Marat Safin (L) of Russia consoles Norak
Photo credit should read WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images

While Safin was a former world number one when he played Djokovic, the other player to join him and Tabilo has less of a reputation.

Jiri Vesely has a career-high ranking of world number 35, and has never surpassed the fourth round of a Grand Slam.

However, the Czech player has always risen to the occasion when playing Djokovic, that includes a victory at the Monte Carlo Masters.

Ranked world number 55 at the time, Vesely beat world number one Djokovic to obtain his first ever win over a top 10 player.

Perhaps more surprising was his second victory over Djokovic at the Dubai Tennis Championships in 2022, when Vesely was the world number 123.

Vesely beat Djokovic in straight sets on this occasion en route to reaching the final of the ATP 500 tournament.

It is unlikely that this head-to-head will continue anytime soon, with Vesely now ranked down at world number and competing on the ATP Challenger Tour.

ATP players with winning records against Novak Djokovic

Djokovic doesn’t have a negative head-to-head against any of the players ranked inside the current top 30, with world number 32 Tabilo the highest ranked player to have the advantage against the Serbian.

Although Tabilo, Safin and Vesely are the only players to go unbeaten against Djokovic after playing him more than once, they are not the only men to have an advantage against him.

Some of the other players to have an advantage over Djokovic include Andy Roddick, Fernando Gonzalez and Nick Kyrgios.

Although the Australian has won three of their matches, Djokovic beat Kyrgios in the Wimbledon final in what was their most recent meeting.

The most recent player to join this list was Reilly Opelka, who beat Djokovic in January at the Brisbane International.

ATP PlayerHead-to-head with DjokovicMost Recent meeting
Fernando Gonzalez2-1 GonzalezGonzalez beat Djokovic, 7-5 5-7 7-5 (Madrid Open 2006)
Andy Roddick5-4 RoddickDjokovic beat Roddick, 6-2 6-1 (London Olympics 2012)
Ivo Karlovic2-1 KarlovicKarlovic beat Djokovic, 6(2)-7 7-6(6) 6-4 (Qatar Open 2015)
Taro Daniel1-0 DanielDaniel beat Djokovic, 7-6(3) 4-6 6-1 (Indian Wells 2018)
Dan Evans1-0 EvansEvans beat Djokovic, 6-4 7-5 (Monte Carlo Masters 2021)
Nick Kyrgios2-1 KyrgiosDjokovic beat Kyrgios, 3-6 6-3 6-4 7-6(3) (Wimbledon 2022)
Luca Nardi1-0 NardiNardi beat Djokovic, 6-4 3-6 6-3 (Indian Wells 2024)
Reilly Opelka1-0 OpelkaOpelka beat Djokovic, 7-6(3) 6-3 (Brisbane International 2025)

Although Djokovic has a negative head-to-head against these 11 players including Tabilo, Safin and Vesely, he does have the advantage over rivals Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Carlos Alcaraz.