Does Djokovic leave nothing to chance on his comeback?
After his brief guest appearance at the ATP Dubai 2022 in February, Novak Djokovic now returns to the ATP Tour for good. The Serb, who was not allowed to play in the Australian Open or the Sunshine Double in the USA, will compete in a Masters tournament for the first time since last autumn at the Monte-Carlo Masters.
Meanwhile, Spanish challenger Alejandro Davidovich Fokina was already in action in the first round, where he recorded a 2-0 win over Marcos Giron. All in all, however, the 22-year-old’s record for the year reads little frightening with only five wins from 14 singles. Accordingly, the odds are clearly in favour of Novak Djokovic against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at the
The question of how the Serbian will return to the big tennis stage after a long absence is nevertheless an exciting one. Does he struggle in the same way as he did in his surprising exit from the ATP Dubai against Jiri Vesely (ATP 123)? Or will he sweep over his Spanish opponent in the twinkling of an eye?
We see the greatest value for Novak Djokovic against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in betting on the latter. We expect a clear win and therefore bet on the Serb with a handicap of -5.5 games.
Novak Djokovic – Statistics & current form
Current world ranking: 1
Position in the seedings: 1
The 34-year-old Serb Novak Djokovic caused a stir right at the beginning of the year when he famously had to leave Melbourne after exhausting all legal options.
This meant that the 20-time Grand Slam winner missed the Australian Open, which he last won three times in a row in 2019, 2020 and 2021. As he was also not allowed to compete in the Sunshine Double due to his vaccination status, the Djoker only took part in the ATP Dubai this year
Two overall wins at the Monte-Carlo Masters
In the United Arab Emirates, the 34-year-old beat Lorenzo Musetti and Karen Khachanov both 2-0, but in the quarter-finals the Serb surprisingly lost to Jiri Vesely, who then temporarily lost the top spot in the ATP world rankings to Daniil Medvedev.
Nole currently enters the Monte-Carlo Masters as the world number one again. However, his lead over the Russian, who will miss at least another month, is just ten points. A good run in Monaco, where the Djoker has already won twice in 2013 and 2015, would be correspondingly important.
In Monte Carlo, Djokovic lost twelve of his 47 singles
While the Serbian goes into his opening match as the clear favourite.
It has to be said, however, that the Monte-Carlo Masters have not been too good a venue for the world number one so far. At no other Masters tournament has Novak Djokovic suffered more defeats (twelve) than here.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina – Statistics & current form
Current ranking in the world: 46
Position in the seedings: unseeded
The 22-year-old Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina made it to a major tournament on the ATP Tour for the first time in 2019. Since 2021, the man from Malaga has regularly participated in the Grand Slams and Masters tournaments.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina has already achieved two major successes, especially on clay. Last year, he reached the quarter-finals of the Monte-Carlo Masters 2021 here at the Monte Carlo Country Club before also making it into the top eight at the French Open.
Only one win against top-10 players
Around the end of last year’s clay court season, the 22-year-old even climbed to No. 32 in the ATP world rankings at one point, which opened the door to more major tournaments for him. However, because he was unable to repeat his good results on clay on either grass or hard court, he has slipped back to 46th place in the rankings since last summer.
Now Alejandro Davidovich Fokina is hoping for another strong clay-court season in which he will face a real heavyweight at the Monte-Carlo Masters after his 2-0 opening victory over Marcos Giron in the second round. So far, the Spaniard has won only one of his 13 singles against top-10 players.
One of four service games surrendered in 2022
The Spaniard’s record for the year doesn’t read too well either. The opening win here in Monte Carlo marked only the fifth victory in 14 singles for the man from Malaga. Novak Djokovic’s chances of making it to the third round against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina are correspondingly poor.
The serve in particular could once again stand in the 22-year-old’s way. So far this year, he has lost one of four service games, which could quickly break his neck against the Serb, who is so difficult to stop on his own serve.
Novak Djokovic – Alejandro Davidovich Fokina Direct comparison / H2H record
Head to head: 2:0
Twice both players faced each other and twice Novak Djokovic made short work of the Spaniard with a quick 2-0. In the last 16 of the ATP Rome 2021, it was 6:2 and 6:1 on clay, before a 6:3 and 6:1 in the last 16 at the Olympic Games.
Novak Djokovic – Alejandro Davidovich Fokina Tip
The prediction for Novak Djokovic against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina clearly goes in the direction of the world number one, who, however, still has to show that his form has not suffered under the abstinence after his long forced break. So far, however, the Djoker has not missed a beat against the Spaniard in two encounters in the past year.
With Davidovich Fokina struggling to reliably get through his own service game, things could go very quickly again now.
