Djokovic reaches Serbia Open final, faces Rublev
Djokovic missed the Australian Open after being deported following a row over his Covid-19 vaccination status, which also prohibited him from playing in the US hard court swing
Tennis star Novak Djokovic has reached his first final of the 2022 ATP Tour season with the world No 1 to face Andrey Rublev in Sunday’s title match at the Serbia Open.
Djokovic came from a set down to defeat Russia’s Karen Khachanov 4-6 6-1 6-2 and make his third Serbia Open final, having won the event in his birth city of Belgrade in 2009 and 2011.
The 34-year-old has only played two events this year prior to this week’s event, losing to Jiri Vesely in the quarter-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships in February and then suffering a shock defeat to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the last 32 of the Monte Carlo Masters earlier this month.
Djokovic missed the Australian Open after being deported following a row over his Covid-19 vaccination status, which also prohibited him from playing in the US hard court swing.
Top seed Djokovic will face No 2 seed Rublev after the latter breezed past Italy’s Fabio Fognini 6-2-6-2.
Meanwhile, women’s World No 1 Iga Swiatek also came from a set down to beat Liudmila Samsonova in a competitive semi-final at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart to extend her winning streak to 22 matches.
The Polish player saw her run of 28 consecutive winning sets snapped as Russian star Samsonova won the opener after a tie-break. However, Swiatek rallied to take the next two and record a 6-7 6-4 7-5 victory to remain on course for her fourth title of 2022. Swiatek will face Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka in Sunday’s final.
