Deported from Australia, Djokovic added his second straight win in Dubai: he defeated Khachanov in straight sets.

Novak Djokovic He advanced in his first ATP tournament for 2022 and qualified on Wednesday for the Quarter-finals in DubaiWhich was not achieved by Spaniard Roberto Bautista, the last champion in Doha who was eliminated in the UAE championship.

The 34-year-old Serbian tennis player, whose world number one is being threatened by Russian Daniil Medvedev, won two sets in his match on Wednesday against another Russian player, Karen Khachanov (26), 6-3, 7-6 (7/2), at 1 hour 37 minutes.

Djokovic returned to the ATP tour on Monday, then beat Italian Lorenzo Mussetti 6-3 twice. It was his first encounter since he was expelled from Australia on January 16, as he was unable to play his first major tournament of the year due to not being vaccinated against COVID-19.

In Australia, he went through hard times due to his conflict with the Australian authorities, until a court decision in support of his expulsion from the country.

at the ATP 500 in Dubai, which distributes prizes of more than two million dollars, Djokovic could participate because the coronavirus vaccine is not mandatory to enter the UAE.

In any case, Noll did not rule out a commitment to vaccination so that he would not find himself objecting to participating in the most important competitions, which would jeopardize his season. “I have an open mind … everything is possible in life, We’ll see how the situation develops, but for now I’ve decided not to.‘, he noted a week ago, in an interview in which he accepted ‘I missed playing tennis after all I’ve been through’.

Possibility to participate in Roland Garros And the Wimbledon It seems possible to the extent that France and United kingdom They are easing health restrictions, but a vaccine is still necessary to participate in US Open in August. There’s still a long way to go by then, but on March 2nd Masters 1000The second category of men’s tennis, Indian wells (March 7-20) and Miami (from March 21 to April 3).

At the moment, in the Dubai quarter-finals, he will face the Serbian Czech Jiri Vesely (123rd) who stunned the Spaniard Roberto Bautista (15) in the second round 6-2 6-4.

Bautista arrived in Dubai after winning the Doha title last Saturday, his 10th on the ATP circuit.

On the other side of the table, Russian Andrey Rublev, ranked 7th in the world and the last champion in Marseille, returned in the second round against South Korea’s Kwon Sun-woo (60th place) and won 4-6, 6-0. and 6-3.

Rublev will play in the quarter-finals against American Mackenzie MacDonald (61st place), who overpowered Serbian Filip Krajinovic (44th place) 6-4, 7-6 (9/7).

With information from Agence France-Presse

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