Serbia's Novak Djokovic reacts as he plays against Croatia's Dino Prizmic during their men's singles match of the WTA Rome Open tennis tournament at the Foro Italico in Rome on May 8, 2026. (Photo by Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP via Getty Images)

AFP via Getty Images

Novak Djokovic hadn’t played a first professional tennis match in over two months due to a shoulder injury.

The Serbian legend hadn’t played a clay court match in nearly 11 months.

And in his return to the dirt on Friday, Djokovic got sick and threw up on court during the second set of his 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 loss to world No. 79 Dino Prižmić of Croatia in the first round of the Italian Open.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion and six-time Italian Open winner had been a perfect 18-0 in his first-round matches in Rome, and his loss begs the question of whether he will play in a smaller event ahead of the start of Roland Garros on May 24. He did play the ATP 250 event in Geneva last spring after a couple of early losses on clay.

Prižmić, 20, has never won a Grand Slam singles match and had only won 18 Tour-level matches before Friday.

He grew up idolizing Djokovic but he’s now beaten Djokovic and world No. 6 Ben Shelton (Madrid) in the last 14 days.

Djokovic had no aces in the match and was broken three times. He won just 58% of his second-serve points.

During the second set, Djokovic retreated behind a camera wall to throw up and could barely move during the set.

He picked it up in the third set, but 2-all he was broken for 2-3. Prižmić, then closed it out with an ace at 5-4, 40-15.

With Carlos Alcaraz (wrist) out for the upcoming French Open, Djokovic would be considered a second-tier favorite after world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, but it’s hard to know what to make of his chances after this latest performance.

Djokovic turns 39 on May 22.