World No.1 Djokovic to launch 2016 season in Doha

Date

11/26/2015 1:07:49 AM

(MENAFN- The Peninsula)

DOHA: World number one Novak Djokovic (pictured) of Serbia will launch the 2016 season at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open it was announced by Qatar Tennis Federation (QTF) yesterday.

Winner of 11 titles in 2015 Djokovic dominated world tennis by taking home more than $21m in prize money after bagging three out of four Grand Slam titles.

The celebrated Serbian also won the ATP Tour finals in London last Sunday beating Roger Federer in the title clash.

QTF yesterday confirmed Djokovic will be joined by defending champion David Ferrer of Spain at the January 4-9 event to be played at Khalifa Tennis Complex.

Former world number one Rafael Nadal of Spain is also listed in the 32-player field.

“We are incredibly honored to have another year with players of the highest caliber coming to the Qatar ExxonMobil Open” Tournament Director Karim Alami said yesterday.

“The week in Doha kicks off the ATP World Tour season and these players are looking to hit the courts fresh from their end-of-season break” he added.

“Novak will return to Doha as world No.1 for the second consecutive year” Alami said.

“Nadal will be looking to win his second Doha title while Ferrer will aim to defend his title he won last year” Alami said in QTF statement released yesterday.

Djokovic won the Australian Open Wimbledon and the US Open.

In a rare blip the 28-year-old lost the French Open final to Stanislal Wawrinka as he failed to complete his bag of four Grand Slams in one season.

Ferrer will be looking to launch his new season on a positive note as he did in 2015 when he beat Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in the final. After his title win in Doha last January David won titles in Vienna Kuala Lumpur Acapulco and Rio de Janeiro.

Berdych ranked six in the world is one of the players in the main draw at the hugely popular event. Berdych won two titles in 2015 — Stockholm and Shenzhen.

French star Richard Gasquet — who is ranked No.9 on the ATP Tour rankings computer will also return to Doha.

Gasquet the 2013 Qatar ExxonMobil Open champion won two titles in Estoril and Montpellier in 2015.

Doha will be one of three stations to launch the 2016 season — with Chennai and Brisbane — in the first week of January.

The January 4-9 event will be the 24th edition of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. Players appearing at the Doha event will fly out to Melbourne for the season’s first Grand Slam.

The Peninsula

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