Novak Djokovic has won his first match of the 2022 ATP Tour season after beating Lorenzo Musetti 6-3 6-3 at the Dubai Tennis Championships. The world number one is still settling down for the season after the drama that ensued in Australia last month, leading to his deportation. Djokovic had entered the country for the Australian Open with a medical exemption, but his visa was revoked and he had to be ejected from the country.
Djokovic needed 75 minutes to defeat Italian Mussetti in straight sets. He saved seven of the break points Mussetti created against him while making seven unforced errors during the two sets. He would now face either Alex de Minaur or Karen Khachanov in the round of 16.
Speaking after the match, Djokovic expressed his joy at making a wonderful return back to the game: “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. All in all, it’s a straight-sets win so of course, I have to be satisfied, especially after not playing for two and a half, almost three months.”
The Serbian also commented that he may not be able to enter the United States to play the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells in March, on account of him being unvaccinated.
Last week, in an interview, Djokovic said he was ready to miss as many tournaments as possible rather than be forced to receive the vaccine. He clarified that he had no problems with the vaccine, having received some when he was young, but he was not going to be forced to receive the vaccine now.
This may mean that we would not see him in many events this year, especially majors. The implication of this is that he could lose his world number one status, which was threatened by his absence from competitions so far. He may lose it this week to Daniil Medvedev, depending on how well he fares in this competition. But even if he does retain it now, missing more events this year means the title would go to someone else.
Written by: Leon Osamor
