Reilly Opelka's Brisbane upset over Novak Djokovic adds another unwanted record to the Serbian's resume

Although Novak Djokovic has several admirable records to his name, the former World No.1's defeat to Reilly Opelka at the 2025 Brisbane International comes with an undesirable side note.

Opelka overcame the Serbian in a solid performance at last week's event, scoring a 7-6(6) 6-3 victory in the quarterfinals. Djokovic was unable to deal with the firepower coming off the towering American's racket, with Opelka scoring one of the biggest wins of his career in the upset.

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Djokovic's loss gives Opelka a unique record

The American had been dealing with several injuries over the past year, making sporadic appearances on tour as he battled to regain his fitness. Ranked at World No.293, Opelka scored a historic victory over Djokovic, making him the second lowest-ranked player to ever defeat the former World No.1.

The Serbia's worst defeat in terms of ranking came at the hands of compatriot Filip Krajinovic, who defeated Djokovic at the 2010 Belgrade International when ranked World No.319. However, Djokovic's most recent defeat to a low-ranked player was when he fell to Italian Luca Nardi, ranked World No.123, at last year's Indian Wells event.

Following his victory over Djokovic, Opelka would go on to reach the final, where he was forced to retire due to injury. However, the American moved up the rankings table to World No.171, which is sufficient to earn him a spot at the 2025 Australian Open qualifiers.

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