World number one Novak Djokovic was denied his first title of the year yesterday, falling in three sets to Russia’s Andrey Rublev in the final of the Serbia Open.
Second seed Rublev won through 6-2, 6-7 (4/7), 6-0 against the top seed who had been looking to regain winning form before his French Open title defence next month.
“It is big to play against you and share the court for the second time,” Rublev said to Djokovic during the trophy ceremony. “I hope we have more battles. I feel so great here, it is a very nice city. It feels really special. I want to say a big thanks to all the spectators for supporting all the players all week. To see full crowds again is special for all of us.”
The Belgrade event was only Djokovic’s third of 2022 after he was deported from Melbourne – and denied the chance to defend his Australian Open title – after entering the country unvaccinated.
However, the 20-time Grand Slam winner was let down by his lack of physical form.
The 34-year-old, who lost in the quarter-finals in Dubai and suffered a shock second-round defeat in Monte Carlo, battled past Laslo Djere, Miomir Kecmanovic and Karen Khachanov in three sets before the court time caught up with the top seed against Rublev.
Djokovic got off to a bad start, dropping serve twice, to lose the first set after have an hour.
Buoyed by the support of the 8,000 crowd, Djokovic fought back in a marathon second set which lasted just over an hour, levelling in the tie-break despite wasting six set points, before running out of steam in the third.
Rublev captured his third title of the season, days after blasting Wimbledon’s ban on Russian and Belarusian players as “complete discrimination”.
Wimbledon banned all Russian and Belarusian players from this summer’s Grand Slam tournament due to the invasion of Ukraine.
It was a decision condemned by the ATP and WTA as well as a host of players including world number one Novak Djokovic who described the sanction as “crazy”.
Rublev has now equalled Spaniard Rafael Nadal for the most tour-level titles in 2022, having also clinched crowns in Marseille and Dubai in February. 
However, despite the 20-time Grand Slam winner being let down by his lack of physical form, he remains upbeat for his bid to capture a third French Open crown.
“Things are progressing slowly but surely, Paris is the big goal and hopefully by Paris I’ll be ready,” said the two-time Serbia Open winner.
“I have to look at the positives, playing the final in front of my home crowd, it was unfortunate that in the third set I ran out of gas and couldn’t deliver more of a fight,” said Djokovic. “After four three-set battles I can say that I am tired but also pleased that I managed to win the matches prior to this one.
“I think that will serve me for the continuation of the clay court season,” he said.
“He was for sure not in his high level, maybe middle level,” said Rublev of Djokovic.
“In the third set I was really lucky that he couldn’t break me and that he was really tired.”


Swiatek beats Sabalenka to CLINCH Stuttgart title
World number one Iga Swiatek captured her fourth straight title of the 2022 season by beating Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka 6-2 6-2 in the Stuttgart Open final yesterday, extending her winning streak to 23 matches.
Swiatek, a former French Open champion, had breezed through the opening rounds of the WTA 500 claycourt tournament before facing her biggest test in the semi-finals, where she battled back from a set down to overcome Ludmilla Samsonova on Saturday.
The Polish 20-year-old showed little signs of fatigue from that marathon clash as she saved an early breakpoint and raced to a 3-0 lead before holding firm and taking the opening set when third-seeded Sabalenka, last year’s runner-up, double-faulted.
The pair had split their previous meetings – in last year’s WTA Finals and the Qatar Open in February – but it was the in-form Swiatek who excelled in their first claycourt match, dealing effortlessly with her opponent’s big hitting.
The error-prone Sabalenka looked to mount a comeback after a crucial hold of serve at the start of the second set but Swiatek switched gears to break for a 4-2 lead and completed the victory when the Belarusian sent a shot long.
Debutant Swiatek’s success in Stuttgart follows her triumphs in Doha, Indian Wells and Miami, and makes her a firm favourite for Roland Garros starting on May 22.