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Dubai (AFP) – Novak Djokovic is back this week at the Dubai tournament, a month after his triumph in Australia, before perhaps having to take another forced break because his refusal of the anti-covid vaccination could close the doors to the American tour.
The Serb trained at home in Belgrade before joining the Middle East. On Wednesday, he assured that the thigh injury which hampered him in Melbourne, without preventing him from winning his 22nd Grand Slam tournament hands down, was “healed”.
At 35, he has recovered the first place in the world and will start his 378th week in Dubai in this rank, now an absolute record, men and women alike, since he exceeds the German Steffi Graf by one unit.
“It’s surreal to think that I spent so long at the top of the ATP rankings. To be compared to someone like Steffi Graff, one of the greatest players in history, and other big names of our sport, it is really something of which I am very proud”, explained “Djoko” in a press conference.
Djokovic will be on favorable ground on the hard courts of Dubai where he has already won five times, but he has mixed memories in this ATP 500. This is where he started his season in 2022 after having deprived of the Australian Open for lack of vaccination against covid and he had been beaten in the quarter-finals by the Czech Jiri Vesely.
“Close to 100%”
This refusal of the vaccine, always reaffirmed, could this year prevent him from playing the Masters 1000 of Indian Wells and Miami, which take place in the wake of Dubai, because the American authorities have extended until April, the obligation vaccination for foreign visitors.
Djokovic arrives undefeated in the Gulf after winning his back-to-school tournament in Adelaide and then the Australian Open, showing himself to be more dominating than ever. It is twelve wins in a row.
The one-thigh muscle problem that troubled him in Australia seems all but forgotten: “I’m close to being 100 per cent physically, but I’m not at that level yet in terms of playing, in terms of feeling on the pitch But I don’t feel constrained in my movements anymore,” he explained.
“I’m still hungry for victories, trophies, records,” warned the Serb.
The No.2 seed in Dubai is Andrei Rublev (5th in the world) but Djokovic’s first rival may be the other Russian Andrei Medvedev, winner in quick succession of the Rotterdam and Doha tournaments and in full revival. The two men could meet in the semi-finals.
There will also be among the outsiders the Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime and the German Alexander Zverev, still looking for his best level eight months after his serious injury at Roland-Garros.
Djokovic will meet a player from the qualifications in the first round and then in the second the winner of the match between the Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor and the Frenchman Constant Lestienne.
© 2023 AFP
