He’s back on the tennis court…
Novak Djokovic (34) easily makes it into the round of 16 at the ATP tournament in Dubai, defeating Italian Lorenzo Musetti (19) in the first round 6: 3, 6: 3. Playing time: one hour and 14 minutes. In the round of 16, the 20-time Grand Slam winner meets either Karen Khachanov (Russia) or Alex de Minaur (Australia).
We remember: The world number one could not take part in the Australian Open in January because his visa was canceled by the authorities there. Djokovic is not vaccinated against Corona, the country has strict requirements. So the Serb had to leave before the start of the first Grand Slam tournament.
In Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Djokovic now had a negative PCR test to compete.
Djokovic said before the game: “I miss tennis after everything that happened.”
At his first appearance in 2022, the lack of match practice was not noticeable.
By the way: After 361 weeks as world No. 1, Djokovic could lose the top spot next Monday (February 28). The prerequisite is that the Russian Daniil Medvedev (26) wins the tournament in Acapulco, Mexico. Our number 1, Alexander Zverev (24), also competes there.