Mayotte: Djokovic desperately wants to separate himself from Federer, Nadal

• Tennis News
• Novak Djokovic

Former world No. 7 Tim Mayotte is confident that Novak Djokovic will play the Australian Open as he insists the Serb desperately wants to separate himself from Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Djokovic, Nadal and Federer are tied on the all-time Grand Slam record list as each have 20 Majors.

"No question, he will play. Novak desperately wants to separate himself from the other 2. One way or another he will be there," Mayotte wrote in a Twitter post. In a recent interview, Australia's Tourism Minister Dan Tehan urged the local authorities to find a way to get Djokovic in.

“We need to use common sense here,” Tehan said on Sunrise. “If we can bring players in – and especially the best players in the world – and they can do two weeks quarantine, it seems to me like a common-sense proposition."

Not having Djokovic would be a big blow for the Australian Open

“It would be a shame if we couldn’t find a way, especially if he was prepared to do two weeks of quarantine, for him to come and defend the outstanding record he has at the Australian Open," Tehan said.

“It highlights Melbourne across the globe, I think we can use some common sense." In a recent interview with Blic, Djokovic said he's following the situation regarding the Australian Open. "I'm following the situation regarding Australia and to my understanding the final decision of the Victoria Government and Tennis Australia will come within the next two weeks, we are looking at the first or the second week of November.

I don't think something will significant will change compared to what we already know. As it was the case this year, we can expect a lot of restrictions. I have heard from my manager that Tennis Australia is trying to improve conditions for everyone -- vaccinated and unvaccinated players," Djokovic told Serbian daily newspaper Blic.