(Tennis news) Novak Djokovic had a great start to his 2022 season by beating Lorenzo Musetti in the opening round at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. The world number 1 has a task in hand in his first ever event of the year as his pole position is at risk, Djokovic will be keeping a close watch at the results in Acapulco as Daniil Medvedev is also on a mission. The Serbian had trouble in dealing with the one handed backhand which was slicing, hard hitting the ball as Musetti started the match with an inside out backhand winner.
The Italian had 7 chances to break serve in the match but failed to convert all of them, the 34 year old got the breaks as the rallies ended because of the untimely unforced errors. Djokovic defeated Musetti 6-3, 6-3.
“All in all, it’s a straight-sets win, so of course I have to be satisfied with my tennis, especially after not playing for two-and-a-half, three months,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview. “Of course, there were moments when I played great, there were moments when I made a couple of unforced errors in a row uncharacteristically. But it’s normal to expect that in my first match after a while.
Andy Murray pulled off a few textbook shots in his match against Christopher O'Connell. Murray also slammed his racquet to the ground a few times in the opening set, there was a huge improvement from the former world number 1 as his hand skills and speed gave him the second set. Each set lasted an hour but it was the qualifier who looked exhausted and not Murray who was getting to the ball somehow even though the match was short of nine minutes to 3 hours.
The 2017 champion got a break in the 12 game of the decider with defensive skills that got a standing ovation from the crowd as Christopher could not have played the rally better. Murray defeated Christopher 6-7(4-7), 6-3, 7-5.
Taro Daniel was playing at Dubai for the first time and made sure there was an upset on the opening day when he beat David Goffin. The Belgian is making his fourth appearance at the event but has not won a match yet, the streak continues as the world number 111 hit 18 winners and 3 unforced errors. In the second set, it was Goffin who was attacking the court with 20 winners but could not close it in the tiebreak. Daniel defeated Goffin 6-3, 7-6(7-5).
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