All smiles in the Falcons camp as Novak Djokovic and Grigor Dimitrov share a laugh during opening fixture at World Tennis League
Novak Djokovic and his Falcons teammate Grigor Dimitrov were seen cheerfully having a great time together during their opening match of the World Tennis League.
The mixed gender exhibition tournament commenced on December 19 at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai. The second match of the tournament witnessed Team Falcons, led by Djokovic, face off against Team Hawks.
The Serb has had a positive relationship with the Bulgarian No. 1 as they are often seen crashing in on each other's press conferences and casually sharing banter during their matches.
In a video posted on Instagram on Tuesday, the former World No. 1 was seen sharing a laugh with Dimitrov as they seemed to be thoroughly imibibing the energy of the vibrant venue. The Serb's wife Jelena Djokovic went on to reshare the same through her Instagram account later in the day.
The match between the Falcons and the Hawks kicked off with a mixed doubles fixture. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova paired up with Dominic Thiem for the Hawks as they faced the Falcons’ Paula Badosa and Grigor Dimitrov. The Hawks fought back from a set down to win the match 5-7, 6-3, 10-4. The women's singles fixture saw Elena Rybakina register a stunning comeback victory against Aryna Sabalenka (0-6, 6-1, 10-6) to record a second win for the Hawks.
The Falcons put a lot of faith in their Serbian talisman for the final tie of the match as he locked horns with Alexander Zverev. However, the 21-time Grand Slam champion suffered a defeat in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, as the final score read 30-27 in favor of the Hawks.
Novak Djokovic to face off against Eagles' Nick Kyrgios in the next match of the World Tennis League
Novak Djokovic will be eager to turn things around in the World Tennis League after a humiliating defeat against Alexander Zverev in the opening tie. He will face World No. 22 Nick Kyrgios in his next match as his team battles it out against the Eagles on Wednesday.
The two players have met on three occasions in the past and the Australian has emerged victorious in two of them. However, it was the 2022 ATP Finals champion who won it in their last meeting at the Wimbledon finals.
Similar to the Serb, Kyrgios is also coming on the back of a loss in his opening tie in the tournament where he went down to Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3.
Although it is just an exhibition tournament, both players will be keen to put in a considerable effort to win matches as they hope to gain vital confidence ahead of the new season.