The month of February closes with three ATP Tour tournaments. Novak Djokovic leads the field at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, while Carlos Alcaraz is the top seed at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC.
Both are ATP 500 hard-court tournaments. At the Movistar Chile Open in Santiago, an ATP 250 tournament on clay, Lorenzo Musetti and Dominic Thiem will jump onto the court in search of the title. FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN DUBAI 1) Djokovic’s return: Djokovic returns to the tour for the first time since January, when he won his 10th Australian Open crown and 22nd Grand Slam title.
The Serb, who is 12-0 on the season, has fond memories of Dubai, where he lifted the trophy in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2020. 2) Defending champion Rublev: Andrey Rublev won in Dubai last year, defeating Jiri Vesely in the final to win what was his tenth ATP Tour title.
The 25-year-old will try to return to his best form this week on the ATP 250 after losing in the quarterfinals to Jiri Lehecka in Doha. 3) Daniil and Felix aim for success: Daniil Medvedev and Felix Auger-Aliassime met in the semifinals in Doha last week, with Medvedev prevailing en route to the title.
Making his third appearance in Dubai, Medvedev is chasing his third Tour title of the season, having also won in Rotterdam earlier in the month. Auger-Aliassime makes his debut in this tournament and is currently 7-4 on the season.
The Canadian will debut against Maxime Cressy, while Medvedev will face lucky loser Matteo Arnaldi. 4) Murray, wild card: Andy Murray hasn’t made it easy in 2023, with six deciding-set wins this year. The Scotsman comes to the hard court tournament after reaching the final in Doha, where he defeated Alexander Zverev and the Czech Jiri Lehecka.
Djokovic is very happy
Novak Djokovic admitted that he never imagined that he would one day spend more than seven years as the world No. 1. «I couldn’t have imagined it at the time, to be honest. As a child he dreamed of being a Wimbledon champion, being no
1 in the world. I achieved those dreams [in] 2011. After that, of course, I wanted more. I still want more achievements,» Djokovic said. «Of course, I am motivated by goals. I’m just as dedicated to the sport really as anyone else. Obviously I know they don’t give it to me, that I have to earn it,» he added.
