After being restricted from defending his title at the 2022 Australian Open, tennis fans around the world are looking forward to the return of Novak Djokovic in Dubai. The World No.1 was scheduled to start his 2022 season at the Australian Open. However, following his deportation, he will now kick off the season in Dubai. 

Today, 17th February, Nole fans around the world rejoiced in happiness as they got an eye of Novak practicing in Dubai. The Serb was seen practicing ahead of the ATP 500 Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships, scheduled to begin on 21st February. 

Djokovic has been a 5-time champion in Dubai, last winning in 2020. He missed the 2021 season. 

Djokovic makes a comeback in Dubai

The 5-time champion is set to start his 2022 campaign in Dubai from next week. Even though the Serb has been in the limelight for his vaccination status, the love for fans doesn’t seem to lessen for him. 

Today, a Djokovic fan spotted him practicing in Dubai. Little did he wait to capture the moment and post it on his Twitter account. In the video posted by him, Djokovic was seen participating in some high-intensity hitting at the Mouratoglou Tennis Center Jumeirah. 

The video, captioned ‘Novak practicing in Dubai today. Idemo Nole’, saw some other fans also, standing beside the court enjoying the practice. 

Novak is set to enter the draw as the top-seeded player and will eye his 6th title at the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Centre. 

Novak Djokovic in Dubai

Djokovic first won the crown in Dubai in 2009. The Serbian showed unmatchable performance as he dropped just one set in reaching the finals. In the finals he faced Spain’s David Ferrer, beating him in straight sets.

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Djokovic entered the 2010 edition as the 2nd seed. However, unlike last year, Djokovic didn’t cruise through the tournament so easily this time. Instead, he faced some close matches, to eventually go on and with the tournament and defend his title. 

In 2011, Djokovic showed a decent performance while reaching the finals. In the finals, he faced Roger Federer, a player who had been dominating the tournament for a long time. However, Novak showed no mercy as he went on to beat the Swiss maestro in straight sets. 

In 2013, Djokovic won his 4th title in Dubai. Showing utmost perfection in his performance, Novak went on to win the tournament without dropping a single set. In the finals, he beat Tomas Berdych 7-5,6-3. 

After a 7 year long wait, Djokovic re-claimed the Dubai Open title in 2020. In his journey to the finals, he beat some of the big names like Philipp Kohlschreiber, Karen Khachanov, and Gael Monfils. In the finals he faced 2nd seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas, beating him in straight sets.

Djokovic, with 5 titles, stands 2nd in the list of most titles in Dubai. He is superseded by Roger Federer, who has 8 Dubai titles to his name. 

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