Novak Djokovic to start season against Lorenzo Musetti at Dubai Tennis Championships

World No 1 Novak Djokovic will start his 2022 season against Lorenzo Musetti in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after the draw for the tournament was made on Saturday. Djokovic, 32, has yet to play this year after his plans to defend his Australian Open title were denied by the Australian government, which overturned an earlier court ruling and deported him over his Covid-19 vaccination status.

The Serb instead gets his season underway in Dubai, where he has enjoyed plenty of success over the years, winning the title five times including most recently in 2020.

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This will be Djokovic's second meeting with Musetti, who gave the world No 1 a mighty scare at the French Open last season. The Italian took a two-set lead in the last-16 match before retiring during the deciding fifth set. Musetti, a wildcard entry into Dubai, was present at Saturday's draw and the world No 57 was asked for his immediate reaction to being paired with the ATP Tour's top-ranked player.

"There's not so much to talk about! Of course, everyone [in the draw] is really tough but I was not a lucky one," he said. "It's going to be a really nice experience to play on Centre Court with a full crowd. I will try to take revenge for Roland Garros from last year."

Djokovic arrived in Dubai ahead of the tournament and attended Expo 2020 Dubai on Thursday, where he spoke at the Serbia pavilion to promote the work of the Novak Djokovic Foundation.

Elsewhere in the draw, Russia's Andrey Rublev is seeded second and will face Britain's Dan Evans, while Canadian third seed Felix Auger Aliassime - fresh from winning his first ATP title in Rotterdam - takes on Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili.

Italian fourth seed Jannick Sinner will begin his Dubai campaign against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain, fifth-seeded Canadian Denis Shapovalov plays Hungary's Marton Fucsovics, and Polish sixth seed Hubert Hurkacz faces Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik.

Russian defending champion Aslan Karatsev is seeded seventh and begins his title defence against American Mackenzie McDonald, while the eighth and final seed, Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain, will begin his bid for a second Dubai title when he takes on France's Arthur Rinderknech.

Former world No 1 and 2017 Dubai champion Andy Murray has been given a wildcard and will face a qualifier in the first round. This year will be the 30th anniversary for the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and it was announced last week that the stadiums will return to full capacity for the tournament.