The Dubai Open — an ATP 500 event — should be a strong starting point for Djokovic for the upcoming season after he was not allowed to compete in the opening Grand Slam of the year due to his unvaccinated COVID-19 status.
Djokovic, the winner of 20 Grand Slam titles and a five-time champion here in Dubai — 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2020 — was quoted as saying by tennis.com on Saturday that he was “excited” to play in Dubai.
“I always love Dubai. I love coming here. I’ve had plenty of tennis success here and I’m excited to go out on the tennis court next Monday. I miss tennis, honestly, after everything that has happened in the previous couple of months (Australian Open fiasco),” said Djokovic.
Dubai is one of nine tour-level events that the Serbian has won five times or more. The list also includes two of the four Grand Slams, the season-ending ATP Finals and four of the nine Masters 1000 events, according to the report.
