Novak Djokovic's 3 best starts to an ATP season
Novak Djokovic has had a strong start to the 2020 season. The Serb started off by winning all 6 of his singles matches to help Team Serbia lift the inaugural ATP Cup before successfully defending his Australian Open title.
The 32-year-old beat six-time champion Roger Federer for the fourth time in an Australian Open semifinal and recovered from two sets to one down to beat Dominic Thiem in the final, lifting a record-extending 8th title at the tournament in the process. With the Melbourne triumph, Djokovic moved to 13-0 for the season.
Also read: 3 milestones accomplished by Djokovic at the 2020 Australian Open.
Appearing at the Dubai Open for the first time since a quarterfinal defeat to Feliciano Lopez in 2016, Djokovic beat Tunisia's Malek Jaziri and German veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber in successive matches, without the loss of a set, to extend his perfect start to the season to 15-0.
Ahead of his quarterfinal clash with Russia's Karen Khachanov, let us have a look at Djokovic's three best starts to an ATP season:
#3: 2020 (15-0)
Djokovic started his 2020 season by reeling off wins over Kevin Anderson, Gael Monfils, Cristian Garin, Denis Shapovalov, Daniil Medvedev, and Rafael Nadal to help Serbia lift the inaugural 2020 ATP Cup title at the expense of Team Spain in the final.
Far from being fatigued by a strenous start to the season, Djokovic dropped a set against German Jan-Lennard Struff in the opening round of the Australian Open before winning 5 consecutive matches in straight sets to reach a record 8th Australian Open final.
The Serb displayed nerves of steel in the final against Thiem, fighting back from a two sets to one deficit for the first time in 8 Grand Slam finals to extend his perfect record in Australian Open title matches to 8-0. In the process, Djokovic lifted his 17th Grand Slam singles title to move to within 3 of all-time leader Roger Federer's tally of 20.
Following his Australian Open title run, Djokovic entered the Dubai Open for the first time in 4 years and promptly got to business, seeing off Malek Jaziri and Philipp Kohlschreiber for the loss of 7 cumulative games to move into his 10th quarterfinal at the tournament.
In the process, Djokovic extended his perfect start to the season to 15-0 and he will now prepare to take on his 2018 Paris-Bercy final conqueror Karen Khachanov for a place in the last 4.
Also read: 4 milestones Djokovic could achieve in 2020.