World No. 1 Novak Djokovic experienced the emotions of victory and defeat as he restarted his season at the Dubai Open with an unusual dual role on Monday.
Djokovic’s 6-4, 6-2 win against Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, a talented and improving young German, was a resourceful performance given his five-week absence from competition since his exhausting Australian Open triumph, but it was preceded by a Djokovic defeat.
That was his 20-year-old younger brother Marco, whom he was mentoring and whose fate he seemed to experience almost as strongly as his own.
Photo: AFP
Novak Djokovic, the triple Grand Slam champion, experimented with some extra net attacks and different tactical ploys, yet retained the capacity for a tighter focus after Stebe got him break point down at 1-2 in the second set.
However, Marco Djokovic, the wild-card entry, was playing only his third match on the ATP Tour and was unable to do himself much justice during a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Andrey Golubev.
That may be a part consequence of spending much of last year sidelined with a wrist surgery, but Marco Djokovic also offered insights into the pressures of having such a famous sibling.
“There are a lot of positive and negative things about being his brother, you know,” Marco Djokovic said. “Financially, you know, I have all I need, and can get the coaches and the right practice environment, but everybody expects you to be like your brother, which is really tough to achieve. Sometimes I have an advantage because maybe opponents get scared, but others think: ‘He’s Novak’s brother, so I must beat him’ and that can be tough.”
Novak Djokovic sympathized.
“He has to face the pressure of having the Djokovic surname,” he said. “He’s trying to fight with his mind more than with his game. When he is able to focus on that and not on his doubts, he can become a world-class player.”
Novak Djokovic was also in no doubt that playing was easier than coaching.
“It was difficult for me to sit courtside,” he said. “I have not done it too much. At least when I’m playing, I know what’s going on, but I was happy my brother got a wild card. He is not at his level yet, but he’s getting there.”
SEE ISTOMIN ON PAGE 19
New Taipei Kings guard Jeremy Lin on Friday was named the Taiwan Professional Basketball League’s (TPBL) Player of the Month, the first domestic player to win the award, while the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers are to welcome their third head coach in less than a year. Lin averaged 22 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists over five games in October and last month, helping the Kings to second in the standings with a 4-2 record as of Friday. The Kings last night defeated the Lioneers 96-78 to move level with the top-of-the-table Formosa Dreamers (5-2), while in the night game, the New Taipei
LIVERPOOL WIN: The 50th Champions League goal by Mohamed Salah helped the leaders of the Premier League to keep their perfect record intact Real Madrid’s big stars on Tuesday turned on the style to revive the Spanish giant’s faltering UEFA Champions League title defense. Galacticos Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham all scored in a thrilling 3-2 win against Serie A leaders Atalanta BC. However, Madrid still had to ride their luck as Mateo Retegui fired over from in front of goal in stoppage-time when handed a golden chance to level the game. It was only Madrid’s third win in the competition’s revamped league phase and leaves the 15-time champions in the unseeded playoff positions in 18th place. “It’s a very important win. Not everyone wins
TO NO AVAIL: The Denver Nuggets’ Serbian center Nikola Jokic surpassed his 53-point performance in the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix The Washington Wizards withstood a 56-point explosion from Denver star Nikola Jokic to beat the Nuggets 122-113 on Saturday and snap their 16-game NBA losing streak. Jokic, who won his third NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award last season, posted a career scoring high — surpassing a 53-point performance in game four of the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix and a 50-point regular-season best against Sacramento in 2021. The Serbian big man added 16 rebounds and eight assists, but it was all to no avail as Washington, buoyed by 39 points from Jordan Poole, won for the first time
Taiwan’s Lin Cheng-jing won a bronze medal in the clean and jerk in the women’s under-49 kg division at the 2024 IWF World Weightlifting Championships in Bahrain on Saturday. Lin won her first medal at a World Weightlifting Championships for lifting 107kg in the clean and jerk in her weight class, 2kg more than Rosegie Ramos of the Philippines. However, Ramos won bronze for the combined lift after topping Lin by 5kg in the snatch. Ri Song-gum of North Korea won gold in the division’s combined lift with a total of 213kg, while Xiang Linxiang of China took silver with
RSS