Novak Djokovic

Before rising to the top spot in tennis rankings again, Alcaraz held the world No.1 ranking for 22 weeks with his 23rd week starting after the Italian Open. The 20-year-old will be the top seed at this year's French Open with Djokovic being the third seed, so they could land in the same half of the draw in Paris.

That irritation escalated early in the second set when Norrie, who was down a set and a break, hit the Serb in the leg with an overhead smash, after Djokovic had turned his back and essentially conceded a point. The Serb appeared displeased with the smash and gave Norrie a long glare in response as the Brit raised his hand in apology.

"So far so good," Djokovic was quoted by ATP Tour website. "It was an early start today. Strange conditions and we warmed up for just 20 minutes. I was rushing a little bit and we couldn't play before because of the rain, so I am glad to overcome the challenge in straight sets and move on," he said.

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, who lifted the trophy in Barcelona, remained at No. 2 after and is just 365 points behind the Serb, who has pulled out of this week's Madrid Masters. Russia's Daniil Medvedev, who has won more matches than any other player on the tour in 2023 with 31 victories, returned to the Top-3 for the first time since October 31 last year.

It was Djokovic's first tournament in over a month as he was forced to miss the Sunshine swing -- Indian Wells and Miami Open -- both ATP 1000 masters events, after he was denied entry to the United States over his vaccination status. After receiving a bye in the opening round, the World No. 1 faced a spirited challenge from World No. 198 Gakhov and was in danger of losing the opening set. But Djokovic navigated the big moments well to seal the win.

"I have done more training on clay, which is positive if you think about the clay season. I have not had much success in Monte-Carlo in the past two seasons. I haven't played great tennis here, so I am hoping this year I can start the clay season better than in previous years and build my form," Djokovic said in his pre-tournament press conference.

The Serbian great, who recently surpassed Stefanie Graf's mark of 377 weeks as World No.1, begins his 381st week atop and is scheduled to return to the ATP Tour at the Monte-Carlo Masters, which begins on April 9. But there could be a twist in the battle for No. 1 over the clay season and beyond as Djokovic's lead over Alcaraz is slender -- just 380 points.

The Miami Open main draw starts on March 22 and the tournament ends on April 2. "We did all that we could. We tried to talk to the government, but that's out of our hands. We tried, and he wasn't able to play," Miami Open tournament director James Blake told Tennis Channel.

The Serbian great asked American authorities last month for special permission to enter the United States despite being unvaccinated against the coronavirus. "World No 1 Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the 2023 BNP Paribas Open. With his withdrawal, Nikoloz Basilashvili moves into the field," organisers said in a statement.

Having been pushed to a final-set tie-break in his opening match, Djokovic appeared near his best in the second match when he dismantled Griekspoor 6-2, 6-3 on Wednesday night to enter the last eight stage of ATP 500 tournament.� The 35-year-old crashed 29 winners in a scintillating display of baseline hitting.