World No. 1 Djokovic Headlines Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2019

World No. 1 Djokovic Headlines Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2019

DOHA: World No.1 Novak Djokovic is billed to kickstart his 2019 season with the Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2019 which will be held from December 31, 2018 to January 5, 2019 at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha.

Djokovic, the 2018 Wimbledon and US Open champion, tops the entry list of star players which includes world No. 8 Dominic Thiem, Nikolov Basilashvili, David Goffin, Karen Khachanov and this year's French Open semifinalist Marco Cecchinato.

In all, 25 players made the entry list while three slots are allotted for wild card entrants and four for qualifiers.

The three-time Major winner Stan Wawrinka, the defending finalist Andrey Rublev and the former world No. 4 Tomas Berdych, who has not been competing since June, are all in the first places of alternates list and will probably make it in the main draw.

Of the 32 singles players and 16 doubles team featuring in the six-day event, all eyes are definitely going to be on Djokovic, the 14 Grand Slam-winner, who will be a making a return to the tournament after pulling out of the 2018 event due to injury.

The 31-year-old Serb, who will be making an appearance in Doha for the fifth time, defeated former world No.1 Rafael Nadal for his maiden title in 2016 and he followed it up with a three-set win over Britain's Andy Murray in 2017 to claim a back-to-back triumph.

He is also the absolute favorite this time around after having had an amazing second half of 2018.

Meanwhile for Goffin, the Doha event will be the Belgian's first tour event when he returns from an injury.

The 2017 Nitto ATP Finals runner-up announced recently that he was shutting down his 2018 campaign due to an elbow injury. The 27-year-old last played at the Shenzhen Open -- where he lost in his opening match at the tournament to three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray.

Goffin debuted at the Doha event in 2018 -- when he beat Dutch Robin Haase in the first round, before losing to Spain's Fernando Verdasco in the round-of-16.

Tournament Director Karim Alami said, “It is our pleasure to once again bring some of the world's best players to Qatar at this year's Qatar Exxon Mobil Open. Fans of the sport are, without any doubt, in for a week-long festival of top-notch tennis with unparalled hospitality that we are well noted for. We look forward to welcoming all the players and the teeming fans to this year's event which promises to be the best so far.”