Dubai: Novak Djokovik On Thursday, Dubai went down in the quarterfinals and world number one ranking in one go as they suffered a 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) loss to Czech world number 123 Jiri Vsli.
Competing in his first tournament of the season, and for the first time since being relegated from Australia, Djokovic Needs to at least reach the semi-finals at Emirates to try and stop Daniil Medvedev By taking their place at the top of the rankings.
But Wesley had other ideas as the left-handed qualifier improved his career record to 2-0 against Djokovic – a result that would see Medvedev become the first man outside the “Big Four” since 2004 – Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray – to capture the number one ranking on Monday.
Djokovic, who spent a record 361 weeks as world number one, said at the start of the tournament that he would be “the first to congratulate” Medvedev if the Russians were successful in their quest for the summit.
US Open champion Medvedev has become the third Russian player to feature in the current Acapulco tournament Yevgeny Kafelnikov And Marat Safin To climb to the world number one spot.
Former junior number one, Wesley has won five matches in Dubai so far this week, qualifying him to reach his first tour-level semi-final since Pune in 2020.
“It’s an amazing feeling. I never thought I’d actually get a chance against Novak, he’s one of the greatest, if not the best, of all time,” he said.
“For the past 12 months, I’ve been going through … it’s unbelievable, there are so many emotions inside me, it’s hard to describe, it’s just a wonderful feeling,” said Wesley, who will next be seen by Denis Shapovalov or Ricardas will take on Berankis. ,
In his last meeting with Djokovic, 28, he emerged victorious in 2016 by beating the Serb on a clay court in Monte Carlo.
Wesley started the match by breaking Djokovic to lead 2-0.
She lost her advantage as the top seed came back, but some clever drop shots and a few tricky lefty serves once again saw the check inches ahead as they completed the opening set at the 47-minute mark.
A down-the-line backhand drive gave Wesley a break in the seventh game of the second set, but he stumbled while serving for the win as Djokovic brought him back down to level 5-5.
Wesley took a 3–0 lead in the tiebreak and soon secured a major surprise victory over the five-time Dubai champions.
Earlier on Center Court, second seed Andrey Rublev entered his third semi-final in as many weeks with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over American Mackenzie McDonald.
Fighting for his 12th consecutive quarter-final at the ATP 500 level, Rublev reached the Dubai semi-finals for the second year in a row, recovering from a poor first set performance against McDonald’s.
The 24-year-old will next take on fifth seed Hubert Harkaz, who defeated fourth seed Jannik Sinner of Italy 6-3, 6-3 in 84 minutes.
“Today I was thinking that of course it’s over, but somehow I was just trying to tell myself, ‘Just keep fighting and we’ll see what happens’,” said a weary Rublev. , who won both the singles and doubles titles in Marseille. Weekend.
“I lost twice to Harkaz. It will be interesting for me. Completely exhausted in the position I am in now, the last time I lost against him, I have nothing to lose. I’m in for it I’ll try to go and we’ll see what’s going to happen.”
Competing in his first tournament of the season, and for the first time since being relegated from Australia, Djokovic Needs to at least reach the semi-finals at Emirates to try and stop Daniil Medvedev By taking their place at the top of the rankings.
But Wesley had other ideas as the left-handed qualifier improved his career record to 2-0 against Djokovic – a result that would see Medvedev become the first man outside the “Big Four” since 2004 – Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray – to capture the number one ranking on Monday.
Djokovic, who spent a record 361 weeks as world number one, said at the start of the tournament that he would be “the first to congratulate” Medvedev if the Russians were successful in their quest for the summit.
US Open champion Medvedev has become the third Russian player to feature in the current Acapulco tournament Yevgeny Kafelnikov And Marat Safin To climb to the world number one spot.
Former junior number one, Wesley has won five matches in Dubai so far this week, qualifying him to reach his first tour-level semi-final since Pune in 2020.
“It’s an amazing feeling. I never thought I’d actually get a chance against Novak, he’s one of the greatest, if not the best, of all time,” he said.
“For the past 12 months, I’ve been going through … it’s unbelievable, there are so many emotions inside me, it’s hard to describe, it’s just a wonderful feeling,” said Wesley, who will next be seen by Denis Shapovalov or Ricardas will take on Berankis. ,
In his last meeting with Djokovic, 28, he emerged victorious in 2016 by beating the Serb on a clay court in Monte Carlo.
Wesley started the match by breaking Djokovic to lead 2-0.
She lost her advantage as the top seed came back, but some clever drop shots and a few tricky lefty serves once again saw the check inches ahead as they completed the opening set at the 47-minute mark.
A down-the-line backhand drive gave Wesley a break in the seventh game of the second set, but he stumbled while serving for the win as Djokovic brought him back down to level 5-5.
Wesley took a 3–0 lead in the tiebreak and soon secured a major surprise victory over the five-time Dubai champions.
Earlier on Center Court, second seed Andrey Rublev entered his third semi-final in as many weeks with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over American Mackenzie McDonald.
Fighting for his 12th consecutive quarter-final at the ATP 500 level, Rublev reached the Dubai semi-finals for the second year in a row, recovering from a poor first set performance against McDonald’s.
The 24-year-old will next take on fifth seed Hubert Harkaz, who defeated fourth seed Jannik Sinner of Italy 6-3, 6-3 in 84 minutes.
“Today I was thinking that of course it’s over, but somehow I was just trying to tell myself, ‘Just keep fighting and we’ll see what happens’,” said a weary Rublev. , who won both the singles and doubles titles in Marseille. Weekend.
“I lost twice to Harkaz. It will be interesting for me. Completely exhausted in the position I am in now, the last time I lost against him, I have nothing to lose. I’m in for it I’ll try to go and we’ll see what’s going to happen.”
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