Novak Djokovic was eliminated from the Dubai Tennis Championships after losing to Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic in straight sets, 6-4 7-6(4).
Vesely, who had to qualify to have a slot in Dubai, defeated Djokovic in one hour and 59 minutes to advance to the semi-finals.
Vesely claimed the first set with heavy Czech backing, looking to duplicate his victory over Djokovic in Monte Carlo in 2016. Vesely got out to a quick start in their first encounter since then, breaking Djokovic’s serve in the first game.
Djokovic fought back to tie the match at 2-2, but Vesely, who was all over Djokovic’s second serve, broke back in the seventh game and maintained his serve to clinch the first set in 48 minutes.
Vesely was similarly impressive in the second set, breaking the world number one’s serve to go up 4-3.
Vesely’s confidence was high, and he hit a superb ball through his legs to go 30-0 up in his service game before saving a breakpoint to go 5-3 up. The left-hander had a chance to serve for the match, but Djokovic wore down his opponent to tie the game at 5-5 by converting his third break point of the match.
The match went to a tie-break, and it was Vesely who won, clinching the victory with a devastating forehand winner.
As a result of Djokovic’s loss, Daniil Medvedev will take over as the new world number one starting next week, and Vesely believes it will be refreshing to see a new name at the top of the ATP rankings.
In his post-match on-court interview, the Czech said: “After yesterday’s match I was joking that I did not want to fail my record against Novak because I was leading. I never expected to lead again. It’s great for tennis to have somebody new at world number one again.
“We all know Novak missed the Australian Open, but he’s such a champion. He’s been world number one for 361 weeks. Tennis needs new number ones and new generations coming through, I think it’s just great.”
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
