Novak Djokovic to play 2023 Australian Open despite being unable to participate last year due to his unvaccinated status
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Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic, the former world one has been missing in action after his triumph at Wimbledon where he defeated Nick Kyrgios in his maiden singles final appearance to clinch his 7th Wimbledon and 21st singles major title overall. He is one of the greatest players of all time who has been dominating the sport over the past two decades and still continues to do so.
He has been dealing with a lot of issues lately due to his unvaccinated status which resulted in his absence at two out of the four Grand Slam events of the year. It all started with his deportation from Australia since he was not vaccinated nor had any intentions to get away with the vaccine hence failed to defend his title. He also had a disappointing season at the French Open where he got eliminated in the quarter-finals to the eventual winner Rafael Nadal.
Things got worse when he couldn’t participate in the 2022 US Open and even missed playing at the hard-court tournaments which led up to the US Open failing to comply with the guidelines and US mandates to enter the country. With the absence and even failing to defend his titles, he dropped out of the Top 5 rankings which was another big setback for the Serbian legend.
Novak Djokovic all set for his comeback at the Australian Open after last year’s debacle
Djokovic’s had a tough time dealing with whatever happened in Australia since he had never thought of something like this in his wildest dreams. The 9-time Australian Open champion had received a major setback even after landing in Australia and his deportation happened just a few hours before the tournament happened. If that was not all, along with his deportation his visa was canceled and further banned for the next three years.
But now it looks like things have changed completely and Djokovic will begin the new year on a positive note with a fresh start after having a rough 2022. Famous journalist Luis Alvarez stated that Craig Tiley, who is the CEO of Tennis Australia, has confirmed the participation of Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open in 2023, which is a huge sigh of relief and it also means that his unvaccinated status will not be a concern this time in Australia.
If everything goes well, soon his visa ban might also get lifted and he will be looking to start the year on a winning note trying to win his 10th title at the Australian Open and a chance to equal Rafael Nadal‘s tally of 22 singles Grand Slam titles.
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Prateek Pradhan
(601 Articles Published)