Doha, Feb 19 : Former world no.1 Serbian great Novak Djokovic refrained from making excuses after his straight sets defeat to Matteo Berrettini at the Qatar Open, the ATP 500 event, and said the Italian played a master class match to outplay him

The Italian delivered a high-quality display to defeat the third seed Serb 7-6(4), 6-2 at the ATP 500 and record his first victory over a Top 10 opponent since January 2023. The loss was Serb's first opening-round loss since April 2022.

Djokovic was competing for the first time since he retired from his Australian Open semi-final clash against Alexander Zverev in January with a hamstring injury.

'I didn't have any pain or discomfort in that sense. I was outplayed by just a better player today. Yes, I wasn't at my desired level, and it could be that I'm still not moving the way I want to move, but, I mean, I played without pain, so there is no excuse in that," said Djokovic.

'He was just the better player. I think he played a master class match, to be honest, tactically, and served very well, so just a very deserved win from his side," he added.

Djokovic, a two-time champion in Doha, won the gold medal in the Paris Olympics last season but was unable to add another title across the season. It was the first time since 2017 the 99 tour-level titlist did not clinch a major crown.

The 37-year-old holds a 7-3 record in 2025. Djokovic, who acknowledged in his post-match press conference that he will work with Andy Murray until at least the end of the clay swing, stated he is working hard to lift more trophies in the future.

'I am trying to improve my game, as everybody else. But my game is not going to change now. I'm not going to play serve and volley, maybe every once in a while, but my game is what it is, the core is going to be the same. I'm going to try to adjust depending on the surface that I play on and so forth.

'There are more injuries. Things are not the same as 10 years ago, 15 years ago. I still try to take care of my body on a daily basis, and it's more challenging now, no doubt. I still try to do my very best, given the circumstances," the 24-time major winner said.

Djokovic is next scheduled to play at the ATPMasters 1000 event in Indian Wells. The world No. 7 has triumphed five times in California.

/IANS