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Djokovic, competing in his first tournament since Indian Wells in March and his first in Rome in two years, was beaten 6-2 4-6 4-6 by the 20-year-old qualifier.

The Serbian did, however, make a strong start to the match, breaking twice during the opening set to get himself ahead, but his opponent came out swinging in the second.

Prizmic restricted Djokovic to just six points across the first four games in the second set, and although the No.3 seed rallied, the Croatian ensured a decider would be needed.

A timely break in the fifth game put Prizmic in control, and he sealed his progression to the third round in style as he sent a fizzing ace that left Djokovic standing.

"For me, it is hard to [know what to] say. I have a lot of respect for Novak. He is my idol, so it was a great match for me today," Prizmic said.

"I played unbelievably, and I want to stay focused and be ready for the next one.

"First set, he played unbelievably and at the end of the set I tried to find my game and I did it, so it is very, very good."

Djokovic would not have underestimated Prizmic coming into this match having been taken to four sets at the Australian Open by him two years ago, and the 24-time grand slam champion was simply beaten by the better player here.

For Prizmic, he scored his second top-10 victory in the space of a week, having beaten Ben Shelton at the Madrid Open, while this triumph saw him become the first qualifier and the lowest-ranked player at No.79 to claim a comeback win over Djokovic at an ATP Masters 1000 event.