By winning the Dubai tournament against Stefanos Tsitsipas, Novak Djokovic has extended his unbeaten record this year by bringing him to 18 consecutive wins (21 if you also count the Davis Cup Finals). In 2011, the Serbian champion won 43 matches in a row before surrendering to Roger Federer in the Roland Garros semifinal.
The World number 1 also received a 10-year gold card residency visa from the United Arab Emirates. “I’m not using Dubai as a residence, but one day if I ever decide to do that, I think that’s going to give me I guess an easier way to establish myself as a resident, as I understood.
I’m not really yet sure about all the benefits and privileges of that honor. I am grateful because I’ve been now friends for years with His Highness, Fazza if I can call him that way. I want to thank him for allowing me to train in his facility for the years I’ve been coming to Dubai.
The golden visa is, I like to think, a positive consequence of the relationship that we had, as well, alongside other big athletes like Ronaldo, Federer. I’m honored to be in that group. Dubai has been a very important city in my career.
Not just because of the tournament, but because I’ve been actually coming as a tourist here and using this as a base for pre-season training. I really enjoy it. I can’t wait to come back again. If you ask my children, they’ll probably be even more excited to come back to Dubai” – he said.
Novak Djokovic reveals the best server among the upcoming stars
World no. 1 Novak Djokovic has been the player of the season so far, winning two ATP titles and claiming the inaugural ATP Cup for Serbia at the beginning of the year. The 17-time Major champion defended the title at the Australian Open after that thrilling triumph over Dominic Thiem in the final after trailing two sets to one, taking well-deserved rest and returning to action in Dubai last week.
Chasing the first crown in the desert since 2013, Novak saved match points against Gael Monfils in the semis and defeated the young gun Stefanos Tsitsipas in the title match for his fifth trophy in Dubai. Novak has been impressed with the progress of the upcoming stars, aware of the fact they will challenge him, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer for the Major titles in the years to come.
Asked about the finest server among them, Djokovic picked Reilly Opelka, praising the initial shot of the big American and comparing it to his compatriot John Isner. Novak is yet to face Reilly but he believes it would be very tough to return his booming serves even for him, one of the best returners of all time.
The young American has already served more than 1500 aces in a career and held in 91% of the service games, standing as a dangerous rival against all the opponents when his initial shot is on fire. “I have not played against Reilly Opelka yet.
Because of his height, he resembles Isner a lot and has the toughest serve among the young players,” Djokovic said. “Most of these next-generation players, they’re very tall. Because of their height, they have extremely powerful serves that give them a lot of free points.
Like Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Karen Khachanov, they all have big serves and it’s tough to pick one. They have slightly different techniques and everything but they’re very powerful; they go through the court very quickly.
You saw Stefanos has been serving regularly over 200, 215, with the first serve. Sometimes you don’t want to be on the opposite side when the missile is coming that way. I’ve been fortunate that I could and I still can rely a lot on my return that has served me pretty well.”
