Blast from the past: When Novak Djokovic won five Dubai Duty Free Tennis titles

It will take a lot of newsprint to chronicle the accomplishments of the reigning world No1 in what is one of his favourite cities in the world and his winter training base.

Between 2008 and 2015, Djokovic played in eight consecutive championships, winning four times, losing in the final once, and reaching the semifinals on the other three occasions. The only time he has not won the title after reaching a final was in 2015, when he lost to Roger Federer.

After losing to eventual champion Andy Roddick in the 2008 semifinals, he unleashed a dominant run that resulted in a hat-trick of titles to match Federer’s three-in-a-row attempt from 2003-2005.

Djokovic’s latest win was in 2020, when, as the top seed, he blew away the second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-4. Probably his best performance was in his 2011 win, when he was in the middle of his 41-0 winning run at the start of the season, when he swatted aside the challenge of Federer 6-3, 6-3.

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