19:18
coin toss
At 10:15 p.m. local time, the players arrive. Musetti is greeted warmly, but Djokovic is applauded frenetically. The Italian wins the cointoss but decides not to serve.
19:08
Murray wins!
After almost three hours Andy Murray completes his comeback against Chris O’Connell and wins the first round match 6:7, 6:3, 7:5. As a reward, he can play against either Alejandro Davidovich Fokina or Jannik Sinner in round 2. But today there is only one game left on the menu: Novak Djokovic against Lorenzo Musetti. With Center Court now clear, the match can be expected to start within the next 10 to 15 minutes.
18:02
decider
Andy Murray fights his way back into the match and wins the second set 6:3 – the Scot saves himself in the deciding set. For Djokovic, Musetti and us, that means we have to wait a little longer.
17:52
updates
Murray narrowly lost the first set in the tie-break, but is 4-3 in the lead in the second with a break. We’ll get back to you after the end of the second round.
17:31
Head-2-Head
Despite the lack of match practice, Djokovic is the clear favorite in this match and, given the competition throughout the tournament, even the favorite for his sixth title – but today Musetti two furious sets in the tie-break would be enough for a win. He can always play freely against the number 1 in the world.
17:29
Musetti
With a wild card, teenager Lorenzo Musetti moved into the main draw in Dubai and is serving in the Emirates for the second time. In 2020 he fought his way through two qualifying rounds and was eliminated in the main draw by Andrey Rublev. This year, his opening hurdle isn’t exactly lower. And the Italian will remember the opponent on the other side with mixed feelings. Because on the one hand he played two fabulous sets against the Serbs at the last French Open and took a 2-0 lead, but then he broke down, only got one more game and in the end – critically viewed by many experts – even gave up early on. The truth probably lay somewhere between exhaustion and injury. Since then, however, the Italian has gone downhill, losing 15 of the 21 matches that followed – but last week in Rotterdam he finally managed to win two straight tournaments again.
17:22
Djokovic
Comeback would be the wrong word and yet it is Novak Djokovic’s eagerly awaited return to the tour. After his days and weeks of legal battle over the visa for Australia and the Australian Open, which he ultimately didn’t get and had to leave the country again, the Serb can make a name for himself in sport again today. Because he also has a world ranking to defend – even if he will be powerless against a replacement of Daniil Medvedev, the Russian should win the title in Acapulco at the same time. By the way, if Djokovic loses directly at the start today, he will also lose his lead in the world rankings.
17:13
Center Court Delay
The targeted time of 5:30 p.m. CET as the start will in all likelihood not be met, as Andy Murray, tournament winner 2017, and Chris O’Connell are currently still playing on Center Court and have extended the first set to one hour. It’s just going into the tie-break.
17:09
Dubai
In the United Arab Emirates, 500 ATP points have been played since 1993. And by the way, prize money of almost three million dollars will also be distributed. The center court of the facility holds 5000 fans and they are also allowed for Novak Djokovic’ return to the tennis stage. The tournament is one of the Serb’s favorites, he has already triumphed there five times. Only Roger Federer with eight titles is even more successful. Most recently, the world number one won in 2020, but the defending champion this year is the Russian Aslan Karatsev.
17:03
Welcome
Hello and welcome to Round 1 of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. According to the plan, Novak Djokovic will meet Lorenzo Musetti from 5:30 p.m. CET, but the center court is still occupied.