Novak Djokovic was finally able to start his 2022 season last week after being deported from Australia last month. But it was an unsuccessful week for the Serb in Dubai who was upset by qualifier Jiri Vesely in the quarter-finals, handing his world No 1 ranking to Daniil Medvedev.
It marks the end of an 18-year reign for the Big Four at the top spot, with the Russian becoming the first man not named Djokovic, Nadal, Federer or Murray since February 1 2004 to occupy the world No 1 position.
Rafael Nadal was another player back in action this week, winning the Mexico Open to start his season with a 15-0 win/loss record, picking up trophies at all three events he has played so far.
Elsewhere in Acapulco, Alexander Zverev was withdrawn from the tournament for an x-rated rant which saw him smash the umpire’s chair with his racket, and now faces further fines and a suspension of up to a year.
Emma Raducanu was also competing in Mexico over in Guadalajara but has been sidelined with injuries once again, withdrawing from two tournaments.
In more bad news for the Brits, Andy Murray suffered his fourth second-round exit in a row as he crashed out of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis championships.
Express Sport takes a look at the biggest stories from both on and off the court over the last week.
Djokovic loses top spot in return to tennis
Djokovic was back in action playing his first tournament in 80 days after being deported from the country ahead of last month’s Australian Open, leaving him unable to play.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion showed he had no rustiness as he dispatched Lorenzo Musetti and Karen Khachanov in straight sets at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships last week.
After looking like his usual dominant self in the opening two rounds, the Serb then suffered a shock defeat to qualifier Jiri Vesely in the quarter-final, with the Czech needing just two hours to upset the five-time champion 6-4 7-6(4).
The loss meant Djokovic surrendered his world No 1 ranking to Medvedev, who had been in battle with the 34-year-old for the top spot last week.
JUST IN: Nadal reveals key to form amid Djokovic fight with ‘special’ comment
Raducanu injury woes continue with retirement and withdrawal
Raducanu was back in action last week for the first time since crashing out of the Australian Open second-round with severe blistering, which left members of her team asking her not to compete ahead of the match.
She was the top seed at the Abierto Akron Zapopan, a WTA 250 event in Guadalajara and drew Daria Saville (nee Gavrilova) in the first round, contesting what ended up being the longest WTA match of the season so far before being forced to retire in the decider.
The 19-year-old won the first set 7-5 before losing the second 7-6(4) and was a break down at 4-3 in the third when she was forced to forfeit the match with a hip injury.
She has since withdrawn from this week’s Monterrey Open with a “left leg” injury and is in doubt for the WTA 1000 event in Indian Wells which begins in just over a week.
Zverev faces tennis ban after appalling Mexico Open outburst
Zverev was the defending champion at last week’s Mexico Open and started his title defence with the latest finish to an ATP match in history, overcoming Jenson Brooksby 3-6 7-6(10) 6-2 at 4.54am, breaking the previous record of 4.34am set by Hewitt and Baghdatis at the 2008 Australian Open.
The singles world No 3 had also entered the doubles draw with good friend and former doubles world No 1 Marcelo Melo but the pair lost their first match to Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara
Having dropped the first set, Zverev and Melo won the second to force a match tiebreak when the German launched a tirade over what he thought was an unfair call at 8-6, shouting: ““Look where the ball bounced. It’s 8-6 in the tie-break, look where the ball bounced. For f*** sake, it’s your line. It’s f****** your line. You f****** idiot.”
The pair lost the tiebreak 10-6 and at the conclusion of the match, the 24-year-old smashed the umpire’s chair with his racket as footage showed the umpire’s leg flinching with each strike, as Zverev’s rant continued: ““You f*****g destroyed the whole f*****g match. The whole f*****g match.”
He was then withdrawn from the tournament and fined, but will face an ATP investigation which could result in a suspension of anywhere between 21 days and one year, with additional huge fines.
Murray hints at new coach after fourth early exit
Murray returned to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship this week for the first time since he lifted the title as the world No 1 back in 2017.
He came through the first round in a marathon match beating Christopher O’Connell 6-7(4) 6-3 7-5 to set up a rematch with Jannik Sinner, who he beat in his final tournament of 2021.
But the Italian top-ten player was too much for the former world No 1 as he won 7-5 6-2, handing Murray his fourth consecutive second-round exit from a tournament.
The three-time Grand Slam champion will now compete in Indian Wells and Miami but is yet to find a coach to work with him for the ‘sunshine double’ after ending his trial period with Jan De Witt after the Australian Open.
While he is still in need of a mentor for the Masters 1000 events, Murray hinted that he had a short-term coach lined up for the run-up to the grass season, having already confirmed he would skip this year’s clay-court swing and likely use the time for a training block.
“I’ve spoken to a couple of people. I got some stuff lined up post Miami. Not for the Miami/Indian Wells stretch. I still need to find someone to cover that time – obviously someone to cover a majority of the weeks,” Murray said after his loss to Sinner.
“I have someone in the short-term who’s going to help me through until the grass season. You guys will be hearing about that in the next few days, I’d imagine.”
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