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Friday, March 29, 2024

‘Novak Djokovic is hungry’, says WTA legend

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Due to his vaccination status, Novak Djokovic was expelled from Australia last year and had to miss the first Grand Slam of the season. The former world number 1 had suffered serious image damage, having been identified by the media as the symbol of the No-Vax movement.

The Serbian star player needed some time to regain his tennis best, but that didn’t stop him from winning his seventh Wimbledon of the summer. In addition to equaling his idol Pete Sampras with seven hits in London, Nole moved just one length clear of Rafael Nadal in the all-time Grand Slam rankings.

The 35-year-old from Belgrade managed to end 2022 in the Top 5, thanks also to the triumphs at the ATP Finals in Turin and at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. The new season started in the best way for the ‘Djoker’, who won his 92nd title in Adelaide.

His next goal is to win his tenth Australian Open, where he hasn’t lost since 2018. Speaking to Eurosport, Justine Henin expressed some interesting considerations about Djokovic on the eve of the AO.

Henin opens up on Djokovic

“Novak Djokovic is hungry!

He is, in my opinion, just as in many other Grand Slams, the overwhelming favourite,” Henin said. “In recent years, we have seen that the hunger he has rarely any players have ever had. But this time there is a desire to take revenge because I think that the last 18 months have been very rough on him for different reasons,” she added further.

“In 2023, he is in perfect physical shape, and he arrives with the desire to prove things. So yes, he is the big favourite. A lot of things can happen, but clearly, in my opinion, it will be Djokovic versus the others. Djokovic will be the immense favourite,” Henin said.

Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios, who have been at loggerheads in the past, seem to have well and truly buried the hatchet in recent months. “Yeah. It’s (Australian deportation) probably the worst thing tennis could have done to him.

Because now, he is just hungry. Every event he’s playing, he does – he knows that he might not be able to play next week – so he’s gonna do everything he can to win that tournament. He’s almost harder to beat now,” Nick Kyrgios said.

“No one’s supposed to be treated like that – whether you are a tennis player or not, (or) from another country,” he added.

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