Novak Djokovic, playing his first match since retiring from last month’s Australian Open semifinals with a muscle injury, paired up with Spain’s Fernando Verdasco, and took down Alexander Bublik and Karen Khachanov in straight sets in the opening round in Doha on Monday.
The 41-year-old Verdasco, who is set to retire at this week’s Qatar Open, and Djokovic won 6-1, 6-1 against the Kazakh-Russian pair of Bublik and Khachanov in just 48 minutes. They will next face the second-seeded British-Finnish pair of Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara.
The 37-year-old Djokovic sustained a muscle tear in his left leg which forced him to retire during the semifinals in Melbourne against Alexander Zverev of Germany.
World No. 7 Djokovic will face Italy’s Matteo Berrettini in the first round of singles as the Serbian chases the 100th title of his career.
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com