A few days ago, Novak Djokovic received the news that he will be able to compete in the Australian Open 2023. The local government has in fact revoked the three-year ban on the Serbian, the protagonist of a bad soap opera earlier this year.
The former world number 1 paid dearly for his choice not to vaccinate against the Coronavirus, having had to miss the Australian Open and the US Open. In addition to suffering serious damage to his image, the 35-year-old from Belgrade was also forced to give up all the American Masters 1000.
Nole managed to put a positive spin on his season by triumphing at Wimbledon for the fourth consecutive time, the seventh ever. The ‘Djoker’ has thus equaled his idol Pete Sampras and hoisted himself to 21 Slams, just one distance from Rafael Nadal’s record.
Goran’s protege Ivanisevic will look to be hooked as early as next January in Melbourne, in what is perhaps his favorite tournament. Djokovic will also try to unseat Carlos Alcaraz and return to the top of the ATP rankings.
Djokovic jokes
Novak Djokovic was seen gesturing towards his box and asking his team to prepare and send his special secret drink on more than one occasion during the match. “Sometimes I do. I produce milk,” Djokovic responded with a laugh.
During a changeover in the second set, the Serb’s hands were shaking as he sat down on his chair and picked up a towel. “I felt a lot of things and not the greatest things, to be honest,” Djokovic expressed. “I was struggling a lot, I think the most that I struggled this year physically.”
In his post-match press conference, Djokovic said that the low-stakes nature of the clash didn’t diminish both players’ winning mentality. “We always want to win against each other regardless of where we play each against other.”
, said Djokovic. “I think the match today was a showcase of those mentalities that we both possess. … My mentality is to win every match that I play in the present moment. Again, this stage of my career, every match like this is a golden opportunity for me to grab a win against one of the top guys of the world.
I needed to change things up, I needed to shorten up the points. He really challenged me in every way. I’m just very happy that I overcome that challenge. What did I tell myself? I mean, in those moments I just try to get an extra breath of air, and I guess have a specific approach to every single point without really trying to think what was or what will be, which is much easier said than done. But it worked.”
