First game since Australia was sent off – Corriere.it

They did not ask him for a mandatory vaccination, but applauded for every shot, and colleagues whom he met in the locker room welcomed him with open arms. It’s not details, it makes a difference. Dubai was never far from Australia until Novak Djokovic returned to tennis after eighty days of involuntary hiatus. And even the differential scores between the number one seed and Lorenzo Mossetti seem to have grown compared to last year’s Paris, they swept away. In two sets (6-3, 6-3) Among the very valuable plays, a lot of mistakes and terrible blasphemy. Thanks for the welcome Joker smiled at the end of the game, upset by the break points awarded (the four in the sixth game of the second set led him to massive shouts towards the entire team) but also happy with the feeling with the squad untainted by the misadventure in Melbourne, the city he promised to return to in near future.

Djokovic, on a mission to defend the throne of tennis from the attack of Daniil Medvedev that precedence will blow it up (361 weeks long: record) in the title case in Acapulco (where Matteo Berrettini predicted from round one with Tommy Paul and Carlos Alcaraz, Rio de Janeiro’s new king, surrendered), says he’s starting training again ten days after an agonizing return from Australia (physical preparation, above all). ) With a short term goal (Dubai) in mind: Follow the rules. I’m going to play where they let me. I can’t choose Priority remains for Slms and Masters 1000: Where I can, I go and play. At the moment, according to the current rules, I cannot enter the United States. So there is no Indian Wells and Miami. Hopefully something will change in the next few weeks….

In an interview with the BBC, the first since he refused the Australian Open, he confirmed that Australian events did not motivate him to vaccinate, and that the uproar caused by a positive PCR smear was not stimulating (the Institute of Public Health, in Serbia, confirmed that everything was regular, I I’m not an expert, and can’t give other details); In Dubai he reveals that he watched the final between Medvedev and Nadal (I didn’t have much desire, but my whole family was in front of the TV) and that he was in the dark period of controversy to give him strength The example of his friend was Zlatan Ibrahimovic: We’ve known each other for 15 years, and we keep in touch. In the Australian days we wrote to each other, Zlatan publicly supported me: I appreciate and thank him. Then I cheer for Milan: I hope the Rossoneri can win the league title this year with Ibra on the pitch. At the age of 34, he is drawing the future: I will stay in tennis forever, my life. In Belgrade I have a school with 150 children, I like that they ask me for advice, and I am happy to do without it. To pass on all my experience to the younger generations, trying to return tennis to what tennis gave me.

Musetti is an aesthetically impressive opponent (a young Italian knows him as Novak) but still too frail to worry about him. Even a victory in Dubai will not guarantee Djokovic’s survival on the throne if Medvedev wins in Acapulco.: Fate is not in my hands – he says – if I become the first I will congratulate him. Dubai (today against Spaniard Davidovich Fokina) is also the foreign land for Yannick Sener’s debut with new coach Simone Fagnozzi: I chose him because he worked well with both Cecchinato and Trafaglia – explained the Emirates Red Baron – and achieved great results. With him I hope to add something to tennis. There is no explanation, at the moment, regarding the sudden breakup with Riccardo Piatti (who was pretty bad there). There may be a time and a way.