World No. 1 Novak Djokovic easily defeated Lorenzo Musetti 6-3 6-3 in his first match of the year at the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Putting his deportation from Australia ahead of the Australian Open behind him, Djokovic was warmly received by the crowd at the tournament he has won on five previous occasions.
Once on the court, he showed little signs of rust taking just one hour and 14 minutes to wrap up the victory against 19-year-old Musetti.
He made sure to thank the crowd for their reception after the match, “I couldn’t ask for a better reception. It’s been a while since I played the last match — I couldn’t pick a better place to kick-start the season,”
“It was the best possible experience tonight and thank you very much for your support and welcoming me on the court the way you did.”
Djokovic was unable to participate in the Australian Open this year after failing to provide a valid Covid-19 vaccination exemption. He was later deported, missing out on the chance to defend his Australian Open title and win a record-breaking 21st grand slam title.
Instead, Rafael Nadal took full advantage of Djokovic’s absence by defeating Daniil Medvedev to move clear of Djokovic and Roger Federer at the top of the all-time list for men’s grand slam singles titles.
The Serbian came out firing against Italy’s Musetti, breaking his opponent in the fourth game of the first set to take a 3-1 lead. He showed his typical resilience in the next game, saving three break points before going on to wrap up the first set.
Djokovic broke Musetti once again at the start of the second set to take firm control of the match before breaking Musetti again at 5-3 to seal a dominant win.
Djokovic needs to do well a the Dubai Tennis Championships.
He has spent a record 361 weeks as world No. 1 but is in danger of losing that landmark if Daniil Medvedev wins this week’s Mexican Open in Acapulco.
