Djokovic to begin season in Doha

Bengaluru/Doha, November 22: Former world No.1 Novak Djokovic, will begin his season in Doha after confirming his entry for the Qatar Open to be held from January 2 to 9, where he is a two-time defending champion.

The Serb star ended his season prematurely after an elbow injury forced him to retire during his Wimbledon quarterfinal against Tomas Berdych in July.

The 30-year-old, who held the world No.1 ranking for a record 223 weeks, has slipped outside top 10 and is currently languishing 12th following his enforced absence from the Tour since July.

Djokovic has a good record in Doha where he beat Rafael Nadal in the 2016 final and the then world No.1 Andy Murray in the last year's final at the hard courts of Khalifa International Tennis Complex.

Before descending on the Qatari capital, Djokovic will play the three-day Mubadala World Tennis Championship exhibitional event in Abu Dhabi starting on December 28.
There he will be joined by the likes of world No. Rafael Nadal, two-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka and Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic.

Djokovic to return in Abu Dhabi in December

Talking about his return to court, Djokovic said, "I'm extremely excited to return to Doha. The line-up is very strong there and it'll be the perfect way to make my comeback and begin the season," said Djokovic, who is making his fourth successive appearance in the ATP 250 World Series Tournament.

World No. 5 Dominic Thiem, former champions Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Richard Gasquet, Fernando Verdasco, Pablo Carreno Busta and Berdych are the other big names to have confirmed their entries entries for Doha.

Thiem, who recently broke into the top five in the rankings for the first time in his career, will be hoping to further consolidate his positions among the "big boys" when sparks start flying on the courts in Doha.

"We're delighted to once again bring some of the world best players to Qatar for another rounds of sensational tennis. We've always been passionate about organising the best tournament and we've been consistent in achieving this. The 2018 Qatar Open is once again parading some of the strongest field in its category which is a proof of our commitment over the years," said Tournament Director Karim Alami, who himself shot to fame after beating the then world No.1 Pete Sampras during the second edition of the event in 1994.