Dubai (AP) – Five weeks after the lost Corona court dispute in Australia, world number one Novak Djokovic has successfully returned to the tennis tour.
In Dubai, the Serb easily won his first round game against Italian Lorenzo Musetti 6:3, 6:3. After 74 minutes, Djokovic won his first match of the year and was also cheered by fans with Serbian flags.
He enjoyed it very much, Djokovic said in an interview on the pitch: “I couldn’t have asked for a better reception.” He hadn’t played a match since his semifinals in the Davis Cup with the Serbian team in early December. The long break had no effect against 19-year-old Musetti. A break was enough in the first set. In the second round, Djokovic took his opponent’s serve twice and fended off all seven breakballs against himself.
“All in all, I have to be satisfied with my tennis,” he said. In the round of 16, the top seed will now face Australia’s Alex de Minaur or Russia’s Olympic finalist Karen Khachanov, who meet on Tuesday.
Djokovic is also about first place in the world rankings this week. If the Russian Daniil Medvedev wins the tournament in Acapulco, Mexico at the same time, he will definitely replace Djokovic as the industry leader. A change at the top of the world rankings is also possible in several other scenarios.
A negative PCR test is enough for Djokovic, who is not vaccinated against the corona virus, to be able to play in Dubai. The record winner was unable to take part in the Australian Open in January because his medical exemption from the tournament was not sufficient for entry. A federal court had finally dismissed his objection to the expulsion a day before the start.