Novak Djokovic makes confession about racket smash after revenge win at Geneva Open

Novak Djokovic roars in celebration

Novak Djokovic marked his 38th birthday with a fiery quarter-final victory against Matteo Arnaldi at the 2025 Geneva Open.

The world No 6 prevailed 6-4, 6-4 over 39th-ranked Arnaldi at the ATP 250 clay-court event.

Djokovic earned the only break of the opening set in the third game as he did not face a break point in his five service games.

The Serbian fell 1-4 behind in the second set after losing his serve in the fourth game, but he responded by reeling off the next five games to book his spot in the semi-finals.

The win saw Djokovic gain revenge for the shock 3-6, 4-6 defeat he suffered at the hands of Arnaldi in his opening match at the Madrid Open last month. The head-to-head is now split at 1-1 between Djokovic and the 24-year-old Italian.

Djokovic did not hide how satisfied he was with his triumph as he celebrated with a huge roar.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion had furiously smashed his racket while down a break in the second set, leaving no doubts that his competitive fire is still burning fiercely.

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After the match, the 38-year-old was presented with a cake on court to celebrate his birthday — as he had been at the same tournament a year ago.

“It’s great to be in the semi-finals again, last year I played semi-finals,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview. “Hopefully, this year I can go at least a step further. That’s the goal.

“I think I’m playing really, really good tennis. Today [there] was a lot of tension on the court. Straight-set win, but it was much closer than maybe the score indicates.

“Yeah, I was 4-1 down in the second and somehow, I don’t know, after that racket breaking (smiling), I didn’t lose the game and kind of found my, I guess, optimal state and balance mentally and emotionally to really be able to play the best tennis when it was most needed. So hopefully I can carry that into tomorrow.”

Djokovic’s win is another boost ahead of the French Open, which begins on Sunday. The former world No 1 defeated Marton Fucsovics 6-2, 6-3 in his opening match in Geneva to end a three-match losing streak.