Dubai Tennis Championships 2022 scores, winners and recap: Novak Djokovic shocked by Jiri Vesely, Daniil Medvedev to become the World No. 1
Novak Djokovic's first tournament of the season came to a premature end as he was stunned by World No. 123 Jiri Vesely in straight sets in Dubai on Thursday. The Czech produced a fine display to reach the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships and maintain his 100% record against the Serb.
Djokovic's defeat also means that Daniil Medvedev will be crowned the new ATP World No. 1 next week. The 26-year-old is the 27th man to achieve this feat and the first Russian since Marat Safin.
LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE ⚡️ ⚡️
@jiri_vesely stuns Djokovic for the 2nd time in his career, ending his reign at No. 1 with a 6-4 7-6 victory! https://t.co/YXVuWHCuxq
HE'S GONNA BE NUMBER 1, BRO 🥇
@DaniilMedwed will become the NEW ATP WORLD NO. 1! https://t.co/a57CbVdBs4
Novak Djokovic vs Jiri Vesely score
Jiri Vesely beat Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-6(4). He will face either Denis Shapovalov or Ricardas Berankis in the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Novak Djokovic vs Jiri Vesely match recap
Vesely got off to the best possible start as he broke Djokovic in the very first game of the match. However, the Serb broke back in the fourth game to level the score at 2-2.
Both players did well to hold their serve in the next few games before Vesely earned a second break to go 4-3 up. This turned out to be decisive as the Czech took the opening set 6-4.
Djokovic started the second set strongly by taking the first game without dropping a point. He looked keen to break early in the second and pushed Vesely to deuce. However, the 28-year-old was able to hold his serve to level the score at 1-1.
Djokovic continued to put pressure on Vesely as he dropped only one point in his next two service games. However, the Serb's opponent managed to hold as well and then broke in the seventh game to go 4-3 up.
The Serb had a break point in the following game but was unable to convert and Vesely went 5-3 up. Djokovic won the next game without dropping a single point before earning his second break of the match to level the score at 5-5.
The Serb then saved a break point to take a 6-5 lead, but Vesely held to force a tie-break.
Vesely started the tie-break strongly and raced to a 3-0 lead. The Czech eventually won the tie-break 7-4 to win the match and seal his place in the semifinals.
With the victory, Vesely improved to 2-0 against Djokovic. He had beaten the Serb in the Monte-Carlo Masters in 2016.