WATCH: Novak Djokovic obliges young fans waiting for him with autographs
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Novak Djokovic (Image Credit: NBC Sports)
Australian tennis fans are thrilled to have Novak Djokovic back with them. The 21-time Grand Slam champion missed out on the Australian Open 2022 due to his unvaccinated status against Covid-19. He was disgracefully deported from Down Under just a day before the start of the tournament. He was also slapped with a ban of 3 years from entering Australia.
However, to everyone’s relief, the Federal Government of Australia decided to reverse its decision and allowed Novak Djokovic to play in the Australian Open 2023. The 9-time Australian Open champion is, for the time being, in Adelaide to participate in the Adelaide International 1 tournament.
Here, he took time to greet his fans and signed some autographs for them. Sports journalist Sasa Ozmo shared a clip on social media.
Novak Djokovic is chasing his career’s tenth Australian Open title.
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Novak Djokovic’s chances at Adelaide International 1 tournament
The Serb is participating in the Adelaide International 1 tournament. Adelaide International 1 tournament is an ATP 250 tournament. It is considered by many top players as the ideal preparatory ground for the Australian Open. Many top-ranked players, thus, have flocked to this competition to play in it.
Some of the top seeds such as Felix Auger-Aliassime, Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Holger Rune, Jannik Sinner, Denis Shapovalov, and Karen Khachanov are also playing in this tournament. This has brought this competition under the lens of tennis fans. Even Novak Djokovic has approved of the standard of the competition in this tournament.
In a recent interview, the Serb gave answers on why he chose this tournament and his expectations from it. He noted, “I chose Adelaide because I wanted to get a tournament ahead of Australian Open. I wanted a normal 250 event. Judging by the list of players that are playing in a 250 event it’s not really 250 event. It’s maybe a 500 event or maybe a 1000. Some of the best players in the world playing here, both men and women’s side.”.
“The field is super strong. You have Medvedev, Felix, Rublev. You have really, really top guys. Also in the opening rounds, you can play Thanasi Kokkinakis, who is title defender, right?” continuing his rain of thoughts, he continued further.
Novak Djokovic is participating in this tournament in both the singles and doubles events. He played with Canadian veteran Vasek Pospisil in a doubles pair. However, they lost their first match against Tomislav Brkic and Gonzalo Escobar 6-4, 3-6, 5-10. He will start his campaign in a singles event by playing against Constant Lestienne.
Related: WATCH: Coco Gauff makes a daring skyjump from Sky Tower Auckland to welcome 2023 in style
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Abhar Indorkar
(451 Articles Published)