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World No. 1 Novak Djokovic defeated Lorenzo Musetti 6-3 6-3 in his first match of the 12 months on the Dubai Tennis Championships on Monday.
A month on from when he was deported from Australia forward of the Australian Open, Djokovic returned to the tennis courtroom to loud cheers in Dubai for a match he has received on 5 earlier events, studies CNN.
And it took him only one hour and 14 minutes to wrap up the victory towards 19-year-old Musetti and arrange a second-round assembly with both Karen Khachanov or Alex de Minaur, who play on Tuesday.
“I could not ask for a greater reception. It has been some time since I performed the final match — I could not choose a greater place to kick-start the season,” Djokovic later stated in his on-court interview.
“It was the absolute best expertise tonight and thanks very a lot on your help and welcoming me on the courtroom the best way you probably did.”
Djokovic grew to become embroiled in controversy when he arrived in Australia in January with out a legitimate Covid-19 vaccination exemption.
He was later deported, lacking out on the possibility to defend his Australian Open title and win a record-breaking twenty first grand slam title.
As a substitute, it was Rafael Nadal who went on to attain that feat, transferring away from Djokovic and Roger Federer on the prime of the all-time record for males’s grand slam singles titles.
Earlier than Monday’s recreation in Dubai, Djokovic informed reporters that “there was a number of feelings after I got here again from Australia, so I wanted a bit of little bit of time to mirror and to only mentally relaxation.”
The Serbian got here out firing towards Italy’s Musetti, breaking his opponent within the fourth recreation of the primary set to take a 3-1 lead.
He then needed to save three break factors from 0-40 down the next recreation, earlier than happening to wrap up the primary set.
Djokovic broke Musetti as soon as once more initially of the second set to take agency management of the match, though he additionally needed to save extra break factors over the course of the set — a complete of seven over the course of the match.
A 3rd break of Musetti’s serve at 5-3 sealed the win.
“All in all, it is a straight-set win so in fact I’ve to be glad with my tennis, particularly after not taking part in for two-and-a-half, virtually three months,” Djokovic stated.
“There have been moments once I performed nice, there have been moments once I made a few unforced errors in a row uncharacteristically. However it’s regular to count on that within the first match for some time.”
Djokovic has spent a report 361 weeks as world No. 1, however he may lose his spot on the prime of the rankings if Daniil Medvedev wins this week’s Mexican Open in Acapulco — even with a victory in Dubai.
The 34-year-old stated earlier than Monday’s recreation that he could be “the primary one to congratulate” Medvedev if the Russian was to take his place as world No. 1.
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