Novak Djokovic suffered a shocking defeat at the Italian Open 2023 quarterfinals against Holger Rune.

Tennis General

Novak Djokovic suffered a shocking defeat at the Italian Open 2023 quarterfinals against Holger Rune.

Danish star Holger Rune comfortably ended Novak Djokovic's journey at the Italian Open 2023 by smashing him out in the quarterfinal round in Rome.

Seventh-ranked Holger Rune defeated frustrated Novak Djokovic by 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 in a rain-interrupted quarter-final clash.

This is Djokovic's second defeat to the 20-year-old Dane. Earlier, the rising youngster had beat the Serb to win the Masters 1000 at Paris Bercy in November last year.

In the semi-final round, Seventh seed Rune will play Norwegian fourth seed Casper Ruud.

French Open runner-up, Casper Ruud sealed his spot in the semi-final round for a second successive year by cruising past Argentine 24th seed Francisco Cerundolo by 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 for a second successive year.