Novak Djokovic is back on tour this week. He won his first match of the year yesterday. The question is: Can Djokovic win in Dubai?
He has done so before. Five times to be exact and the question of “can Djokovic win in Dubai?” should therefore be answered with a resounding “of course!”. But it’s not a done deal. Already in the round of 16 he might face Karen Khachanov, who can trouble anyone on a good day.
Rublev, Sinner, Karatsev, Bublik, Bautista Agut, there are many good names in the draw. Rublev and Bautista Agut should come in with a wave of confidence after tournament wins in the previous week. Bublik won his first title a few weeks ago. Basilashvili is another dangerous player who has started the year pretty well. The odds are in Djokovic’s favour. And if you’re a betting man you can browse around this website for more info.
The battle for world number one
The current world number one had a good start with a relatively easy win against Lorenzo Musetti in the first round. Despite not having played an official match in 2022, Novak didn’t skip a beat and played a solid match. Musetti is still struggling to find his form after he broke through some years back. There are too many erratic passages of play for the flashy Italian to string together a run of wins. Let’s hope he finds a way through, because he is a fun player to watch.
Talking about world number one, the top spot in the rankings might be out of Novak’s hands after this week. If Medvedev wins in Acapulco, Djokovic will be dethroned for the first time in years.
Still, there is a lot of tennis to be played until that happens and the field in Acapulco is also extremely strong.
What do you think? Will we have a new number one after Dubai and Acapulco?
