The unvaccinated Novak Djokovic was not welcome in Australia, but is apparently welcome in Dubai. On Monday, world number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia defeated Lorenzo Musetti of Italy in the first round of the Dubai Tennis Championship 6-3, 6-3. This was Djokovic’s first match of 2022, and first match on the ATP Tour since losing to Alexander Zverev of Germany, 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 in the semifinals of the 2021 ATP World Tour Finals.
Djokovic won 79% of his first serve opportunities, and broke Musetti three times. Even though Musetti did not break Djokovic, he had more break point opportunities than Djokovic, as the Italian had seven break point chances compared to only four for Djokovic.
Djokovic will next play Karen Khachanov of Russia in the second round. Ranked 26th in the world, Khachanov has beaten Djokovic once before. That came in he final of the 2018 Paris Masters, where Khachanov won the biggest event he was won so far on the ATP Tour, as the Russian was victorious 7-5, 6-4. Interestingly, Khachanov has not won an ATP title since.
On the court, Djokovic is obviously trying to win matches. Off the court, he is not doing a good job at all when it comes to improving his public image among those who have taken the coronavirus pandemic very seriously. According to Amol Rajan of the British Broadcasting Company, Djokovic is willing to miss future tennis tournaments than getting vaccinated. There is a possibility Djokovic could miss the next grand slam event on the calendar too (the French Open), by taking this controversial stance.
