Italian Open 2026 Day Three Recap

Day Three on the Foro Italico delivered a few surprises because the 2026 Italian Open continued underneath wet Roman skies.

The largest story was Novak Djokovic’s second-round exit; the 24-time Grand Slam champion was crushed by Croatian qualifier Dino Prizmic, who fought again from a set down to assert one of many largest wins of his younger profession.

The Italian followers had lots 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.

A lot of the different prime seeds navigated their matches safely with stable performances from Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud, whereas Griekspoor was the one different seeded participant to fall.

Full recap of the day under

Day Three Italian Open 2026 Spherical of 64 Outcomes

Winner
Loser
Rating

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 needed to work exhausting for his victory after a rain delay. Altmaier pushed him aggressively, broke serve in each units, and made the German really feel bodily uncomfortable. Zverev confirmed his class by elevating his stage in the important thing moments, ending with 26 winners. He improves to 4-1 within the H2H and has a stable sufficient begin after his Madrid loss.

Matteo Arnaldi (WC) def. Alex de Minaur (6) 4-6 7-6(5) 6-4

The largest upset of the day. The Italian wild card got here by means of in a high-quality, three-set battle to knock out sixth seed De Minaur. That is solely Arnaldi’s second tour-level win of 2026 and takes him into the third spherical in Rome for the primary time. An enormous enhance for the house crowd.

Rafael Jodar (32) def. Nuno Borges 7-6(4) 6-4

The 19-year-old Spaniard continued his breakout season with a really composed win. After a decent first set determined within the tiebreak, Jodar took management and sealed the victory. He’s now 13-2 on clay on the tour stage this season, and Borges isn’t straightforward to place away on clay.

Dino Prizmic (Q) def. Novak Djokovic (3) 2-6 6-2 6-4

The standout results of the day was a large upset. The younger Croatian qualifier got here again after dropping the primary set to knock out Novak Djokovic within the second spherical.

Prizmic raised his stage considerably within the remaining two units and took benefit of no matter illness or bodily concern Djokovic was having. 

I assumed Novak performed an awesome first set, however then rapidly he appeared like he was about to throw up. He principally tanked the second set however introduced his sport again within the third.

Nonetheless, Prizmic had the momentum on his facet, and he didn’t let up, protecting his pictures coming all through, which paid off as Djoker would have taken benefit if he had not.

Put up match Novak mentioned that’s it for his French Open lead in, no Geneva this 12 months he’s off straigth to Paris. Not splendid prep.

Highlights

Italian Open 2026 Day 4 Spherical of 64 Matches