World no.1 and 14-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic is making his fourth appearance at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, the first tournament on the 2019 ATP calendar.
The ATP 250 event takes place at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex from December 31 to January 5.
Novak is no.1 seed and will open his campaign against Damir Dzumhur (ATP #47), on Tuesday about 18:00 CET. It will be their second career meeting (1-0 H2H).
Nole’s possible rivals in the later stages of the tournament are:
2nd round: Marius Copil (ROM), Marton Fucsovics (HUN)
Quarter-finals: Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO, 5), Andreas Seppi (ITA)
Semi-finals: Karen Khachanov (RUS, 3), Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP), Stan Wawrinka (SUI)
Finals: Dominic Thiem (AUT, 2), Tomas Berdych (CZE, WC), Fernando Verdasco (ESP)
Novak was triumphant in Doha twice, in 2016 and 2017.
Nole and his brother Marko reached quarter-finals of the doubles competition, defeating Cem Ilkel (TUR) and Mubarak Shannan Zayid (QAT) 6-3, 3-6, 10-6. Both teams received wild card into the doubles draw.
Team Djokovic go on to face Damir Dzumhur (BiH) and Dusan Lajovic (SRB).
