Serbian world number one Novak Djokovic started his return to the stadiums strongly, by deciding his first match since his deportation from Melbourne for refusing to be vaccinated against the Corona virus and thus preventing him from defending his title in the Australian Open, without any trouble at the expense of the young Italian Lorenzo Mussetti 6-3 and 6 -3 Monday in the first round of the Dubai session.
Unlike their confrontation in June during the last eight of the Roland Garros championship, when the 19-year-old Italian won the first two sets and forced his opponent to make a tremendous effort to return from afar on his way to winning the title for the second time, this time Djokovic did not find it difficult to settle the meeting and qualify for the round The second, where the winner of the match of the Russian Karen Khachanov and the Russian Alex de Minaur will meet.
Djokovic started the match strongly and advanced 3-1 after seizing the fourth game on his opponent’s serve, which paved the way to resolve the first set without any resistance. Then he repeated the matter at the beginning of the second when he snatched the third game on the Italian’s serve to advance 2-1 and then was close to losing the game Sixth three times to serve, but he saved the situation and advanced 4-2 on his way to finalizing the match in an hour and 14 minutes.
The Serbian was happy to return to the stadiums in a tournament that was crowned five times previously in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2020, saying, “I could not have had a better reception than that. It has been a while since I played my last match and I could not choose a better place than this to start my season.” .
Djokovic was playing his first match since December 3, when he lost in Madrid with his country against Croatia in the semi-finals of the Davis Cup, because he was denied participation in the Australian Championship due to the issue of his refusal to receive the vaccine against the Corona virus, which opened the door for Spaniard Rafael Nadal. To hold the record for the number of major titles (21).
To justify his coming to Australia without receiving the vaccine, the 34-year-old Serbian asked to be exempted from the vaccine, as he had been infected with the Corona virus a few weeks ago, but this matter sparked great controversy and a legal battle in Australia ended with his deprivation of the championship.
He returned to Serbia, where he rested with his family, then this week broke his silence in an interview with the British network “BBC” and then Serbian television.
The player, who does not want to associate himself with the anti-vaccine movements, made it clear that he is not “against the vaccine” but wishes to continue “watching what is being injected” into his body.
He added that he is “ready to pay the price” for his convictions, even if it costs him to participate in the remaining three major tournaments this season at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows.
ATP’s dominance is on the line
The Serbian was “satisfied” with his performance on Monday, “especially since I haven’t played for nearly three months,” and thanked “everyone for supporting me and welcoming me to the stadium in this way,” referring to the crowd’s chant in his name, “Noli, Noli, Noli.”
In his press conference, he revealed that “I tried not to watch” the Australian Championship final between Nadal and Medvedev “but almost everyone in the house was watching it… and I found myself obliged to watch it. But congratulations to Rafa. An amazing performance from a fighter like him. I respect him so much and I do not want To downplay his victory by saying I wasn’t involved.”
“It didn’t feel good to leave the country in this way and watch the tournament from afar,” he added, acknowledging that his reputation had been damaged by the controversy in Melbourne and that he had consulted specialists to better understand the “different dynamics” associated with his situation, which has worsened beyond the sport and reached policy, he said.
“As for my picture, I really don’t know. Of course, there haven’t been many positive articles about this whole situation in the last month. I think things might change a little bit, I hope. But I realize there’s still a lot of speculation and people asking.” .
The Dubai tournament will be very important for Djokovic in his struggle to retain the top spot in the ATP rankings, in light of fierce competition from Russian Daniil Medvedev, who is participating in Acapulco.
But Medvedev faces a fierce battle 15 thousand kilometers away, with the participation of Nadal and the Greek stars Stefanos Tsitsipas and German Alexander Zverev.
Murray qualified and Cilic was eliminated
Djokovic is participating in the Dubai tournament because vaccination against Corona is not mandatory to enter the United Arab Emirates.
After Dubai, his name appeared on the list of participants in the Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells (March 7-20) in the California desert and then Miami between March 21 and April 3. But he cannot enter the US without a vaccine.
Among the most prominent participants in the Dubai (500) tournament, the Russian Andrey Rublev, Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassim, Italian Yannick Sener, the defending champion last year, the Russian Aslan Karatsev, the veteran British Andy Murray, the 2017 champion, who reached the second round on Monday with a difficult victory over Australian Christopher O’Connell 6. -7 (4-7), 6-3, 7-5, and the Croatian Marin Cilic, who ended his career early by losing to Czech Jiri Vesely 4-6, 6-7 (3-7).
Tunisian Malek Jaziri exited the first round, losing to Serbian Filip Krajinovic 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-4, and Belgium’s David Goffin, losing to Japan’s Taro Daniel 3-6, 6-7 (5-7).