Absent last year because not vaccinated, Novak Djokovic hopes for a warm welcome when he returns to Australia.
Novak Djokovic hopes to receive a warm welcome from the public at the Australian Open, a tournament he has won nine times, which he “likes to argueand where the former world No.1 will return in January after missing the 2022 edition.
«After what happened last year, I hope that I will be properly welcomed and that it will help me to play my best tennis“, declared the Serb in front of the press in Dubai, Friday.
The current world No.5 had missed the last edition of the Australian Open after being expelled from the country because of his vaccination status, at the end of a hyper-mediatized political-judicial saga.
Not vaccinated against Covid-19, he had tried to return to the territory with an exemption finally refused, and had been expelled just before the start of the tournament after spending several days in a center for migrants. He had also been struck by a three-year inadmissibility.
But since then, the vaccination requirement has been lifted in Australia and the Serb has obtained his visa. His ban on entering the territory was lifted at the same time, in November.
«In the past, I have always had the chance to start my years in Australia very strong and I like to play here.said Djokovic.
The one who had started the year in the shoes of the world No.1 regressed in 2022 in the rankings, having been unable to play two Grand Slam tournaments, the Australian Open and the US Open, his refusal to to be vaccinated against Covid-19 having then closed the doors of these two countries to him.
In the event of a tenth title at the Australian Open, he will equal the record for the number of Grand Slam titles, currently held only by Spaniard Rafael Nadal, with 22 lifts.