April 24, (THEWILL) – Andrey Rublev won the Serbia Open on Sunday, defeating world number one, Novak Djokovic 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-0 for only his third victory of the season.
The second-seeded Russian player, dug deep to prevent Djokovic from attempting another comeback, denying the top-ranked Serb his first victory this year.
Djokovic had already overcome a set deficit in each of his three wins at his home tournament, defeating Laslo Djere, Miomir Kecmanovic, and Karen Khachanov on his way to the final in only his fifth, sixth, and seventh matches of the year.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion began his clay-court season with a shock loss to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at the MonteCarlo Masters the week before, his first match since being knocked out of the Dubai Championships quarterfinals in February.
After being denied entry to the Australian Open due to his unvaccinated status, which also prohibited him from competing in events in the United States last month, Dubai was his first tournament of the year.
Victories in Marseille and Dubai in February have seen Rublev equal Rafael Nadal’s record of three tour-level trophies in 2022.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
