Novak Djokovic suffered a shock defeat at the Dubai Tennis Championships.
The Serb was beaten in straight sets by Jiri Veselý 4-6, 6-7(4) in the quarter-finals, bringing his first tournament of 2022 to a premature end.
Qualifier Vesely recovered from failing to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second set, to prevail in the tie-break in front of a raucous crowd.
The Czech player played aggressively throughout and managed to outlast Djokovic in one hour and 57 minutes.
“It is an amazing feeling, I never really thought I would have a chance against Novak. He is one of the greatest of all time,” the 28-year-old said in his on-court interview.
“After the past 12 months, it is unbelievable. I have so many emotions inside. It is hard to describe. It is an amazing feeling.
“I think I did an amazing job today. I love these matches playing against the best players in the world. Having full stadiums is something I have dreamt about my whole life. ”
Veselý stretched his record against the 20-time grand slam champion to 2-0 and joined Nick Kyrgios and Marat Safin as the players to have beaten Djokovic multiple times and never lost to him.
The 34-year-old has not only been dumped out of the tournament, but has also lost his world number one ranking.
Daniil Medvedev will ascend to the summit of men’s tennis on Monday and is the first person not named Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer or Andy Murray to be world No 1 since 2004.
Medvedev enjoyed a phenomenal 2021, as he defeated Djokovic to win his first Grand Slam title at the US Open.
The 24-year-old reached the final of Australian Open for the second successive year last month, while Djokovic was unable to compete at Melbourne Park after he was deported from Australia.
He lost a significant amount of ranking points as a result, and following his early exit in Dubai, Medvedev, who is currently competing at the Mexican Open in Acapulco, is the 27th man to become world number one since the rankings introduction in 1973.
Monday will mark the first time since February 2020 that Djokovic will not be the top ranked male player in the world.
During his latest reign at the summit of the men's game, he broke Federer's record for the most weeks spent at number one and now amassed a total of 361 weeks.
Veselý acknowledged Djokovic's greatness but admitted he is pleased to see a new player reach the top of the men's game.
“It is great for tennis to have someone new at World No. 1,” he added.
“Novak is such a champion, he has been No. 1 for 361 weeks, but tennis needs new world No1s and there is a new generation coming up and I think it is great.”
