Novak Djokovic news: World No 1’s comeback tournament revealed following Australian Open fiasco

Novak Djokovic is set to make his long-awaited return to competitive tennis in February following his controversial absence from the Australian Open.

The 20-time Grand Slam winner was expected to kick off his 2022 campaign Down Under, but he was denied entry into Australia and, although he won his initial court case, he was eventually deported when three judges unanimously upheld Immigration Minister Alex Hawke’s decision to revoke his visa for a second time.

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The world No 1 confirmed after the lengthy saga that he would take “some time to rest and to recuperate”.

And he is set to rest for a couple more weeks as he has been pencilled in to compete at the Dubai Tennis Championships with the tournament scheduled for February 21-26.

The entry list for the ATP 500 event was confirmed on Tuesday and Djokovic is set to be the top seed with the likes of Andrey Rublev, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Jannik Sinner also expected to compete.

Djokovic is five-time Dubai champion with his last title coming in 2020 when he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final.