Bergamo health authority director, Peter Assembergs, said, "We never expected to see on our bank account a donation from such a prestigious person."
The money will be used to help buy ventilators and other medical equipment. Italy has been one of the worst-hit countries after USA, with the virus claiming over 21,000 lives their and infecting over 162,000 people so far.
While reading the list of donors Assembergs said he "got emotional reading the name of the best tennis player in the world" and added that when the health crisis is over he hopes to give Novak Djoković a big hug.
Djoković has in the past professed his love for Italy where he trained as a teenager.
"Rome is a second home. Because I feel like I am Italian. I see it: people look at me with positive energy. And I feel that on court and in the city with all its history. Then I have many friends who I knew over the last 15 years.
"I was always attracted by the Italians' culture and tradition. At 17 years I started learning the language by myself. When I speak Italian it's like I speak Serbian," Djoković had said last year in an interview to La Repubblica.
Djoković, his wife, Jelena, and their foundation recently donated 1 million euros (about $1.1 million) to help hospitals in Serbia.
With countries going into lengthy lockdowns to stop the spread of the virus, Djoković said he had enjoyed spending an extended amount of time with his family.
"The situation is very unpredictable. There is a lot of fear and panic and I understand that completely because there is so much suffering. My family and I are trying to stay as positive and high-spirited as possible in battling this impostor of a virus," he said.
