Djokovic, Thiem, Wawrinka, Khachanov Immerse In Qatari Culture

Before kicking off their 2019 seasons in Doha, Novak Djokovic, Dominic Thiem, Karen Khachanov and Stan Wawrinka visited the Katara cultural village on Sunday afternoon.

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The players wore traditional Qatari men’s attire while walking the Katara beach. “Catara” was the historical name used for Qatar prior to the 18th century. The buildings and facilities at Katara were deliberately arranged in order to reflect the country’s cultural and architectural heritage.

Wawrinka and Khachanov posed for a selfie together, with a couple of their closest friends. The two – Wawrinka and Khachanov, not the camels – will play doubles together on Monday at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open against David Goffin and Pierre-Hugues Herbert. But on Tuesday, Wawrinka and Khachanov will clash in singles.

Wawrinka leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 1-0, but Khachanov finished his 2018 by ending Djokovic’s 22-match win streak in the Rolex Paris Masters final.

Djokovic is the top seed in Doha. He, too, will be double dipping in singles and doubles. The Serbian will pair with brother Marko Djokovic on Monday against Cem Ilkel of Turkey and Mubarak Shannan Zayid of Qatar.

Thiem, who finished his 2018 by making his third consecutive appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals, is the second seed and will try to win his third hard-court title.