Novak Djokovic says he has been received “positive” by players in the dressing room and is “excited” to get back on the court on Monday for his first game of the season at the Dubai ATP tournament. The world number one missed the Australian Open last month due to the cancellation of his visa and his deportation from Australia due to non-vaccination. He returns to the Emirates tour this week, where he will make his first appearance since the Davis Cup final in Madrid last December.
Ahead of his opening round against Italian wildcard Lorenzo Musetti, Djokovic spoke to reporters on Sunday night about what it feels like to be back on the tennis circuit and whether there have been any negative reactions from his colleagues following his return.
“So far here are the most players I’ve seen – I haven’t seen many players – but most of the players I’ve seen have been positive and welcoming. It’s nice to see, of course. I can’t say that was the case in Australia. It was a bit strange. But so far it’s going well,” said the 34-year-old Serb.
Djokovic returned to training ten days after returning from Australia and admits it took him some time to mentally recover from a couple of emotional weeks in which he was detained by the Australian Border Force in Melbourne and ended up having his visa canceled twice before he was sent home.
The 20-time major champion said what happened in Australia left him “sad” and “disappointed”, but he soon felt motivated to return to the tennis court.
“I’ve been playing tennis for the past two and a half, three weeks. I’ve enjoyed it. I like the game, I like just hitting the tennis ball, so it wasn’t really hard for me to pick up a racket and go on the practice field and just play,” said Djokovic, who is aiming for a sixth Dubai title this week.
“Knowing I was coming to Dubai I had something to work for, I had a purpose. So now that I’m here I can say I’m as prepared as I could be and I’m excited to be on the tour again. “
In an interview with the BBC, Djokovic said he was willing to waive the chance to compete in any tournament, including the Grand Slams, if any of those events had a vaccine mandate.
“Follow the Rules”
He is aware that he may not have many opportunities to play as an unvaccinated person, which means that planning his schedule ahead will become increasingly difficult.
“I just have to follow the rules. Whatever tournament I get to play, I will try to go to that country and play the tournament,” he said.
“I really can’t choose right now. It’s really about where I can go and play. Wherever I have a chance, I’ll probably take that opportunity and play because this is what I do, it’s what I love to do yet to do.”
Djokovic, who was eclipsed by Rafael Nadal on the all-time men’s list of most Grand Slams won thanks to the Spaniard’s Australian Open last month, could relinquish his number one position on February 28 to Daniil Medvedev, who this week in Acapulco plays .
The Serb, who starts his record 361st week at the top of the league table on Monday, is oblivious to all the scenarios that could lead to his dethronement and is instead focusing on winning all his matches in Dubai.
“He deserves to be number one,” Djokovic said of Russia’s number two in the world Medvedev.
promoted
“Eventually it’s going to happen. If it happens this week, I’ll be the first to congratulate him.”
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
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