Novak Djokovic is prepared for a hard return in Doha | ATP Tour

Doha

Djokovic is prepared for a hard return in Doha

The Serbian opens individually this Tuesday against Berrettini

February 17, 2025

After conquering the trophy twice (2016, 2017), Novak Djokovic had not yet played the Qatar Exxonmobil open in this decade. But the Serbian is present in this edition, not only in individual, but also in doubles where he debuted on Monday with Victoria with Fernando Verdasco.

“It’s great to return to Doha. I have not played since 2019, I have always enjoyed here, ”said Djokovic. “The tournament was played in the first week of the season, before Australia, so it was a great week for all of us to prepare the Australian open and fly to Australia from Doha.”

The Serbian jumped on the track in the doubles mode with Verdasco, which disputes the last tournament of his career, with a comfortable 6-1, 6-1 victory against Alexander Bublik and Karen Khachanov.

“I hope to be able to start my performance well in individual,” he acknowledged. “I started the doubles very well today with Fernando and it is another reason to feel good in this tournament. Being with Fernando in his last tournament, where he is going to retire, it is an honor to be his double partner. ”

And it is that Djokovic did not compete since last January 24, when he was forced to retire in the semifinals of the Australian Open against Alexander Zverev with 6-7 (5) on the scoreboard.

“I have focused mainly on my recovery of the muscle injury that I had,” confessed the Balkan on his days. Since then. “I recovered very well, then I started training. So I have been training tennis in the last ten days or so. I did a lot of physical preparation and spent time with my family in my country, and now here I am. ”

Your first solo test will not be simple. On the other side of the network, Matteo Berrettini awaits him. “We haven’t faced for years. Matteo has played very well lately. We know that he has had injuries, but before injuring and being out of the circuit, he was one of the best players. I was usually playing final rounds of Grand Slam. We played the Wimbledon final in 2021, ”he recalled.

“He is a player with a lot of power, a great game, great service, right, great hand. He has a lot of strength and power in his blows. I know his game well, it is not a first round raffle for me, ”he said with a laugh.

Now Djokovic will play his fifth duel against Berrettini. At the moment, the lexus ATP Head2head dictates that he is the great dominator of the rivalry by 4-0. What will happen in the first round of Doha? We will see this Tuesday, not before 5.30 pm (local time).