'Novak Djokovic has a lot of adversities to deal with by...', says former ace

• Tennis News
• Novak Djokovic

It is a risk that he personally decided to take when he made the decision not to get vaccinated against Covid-19. The topic, the discussion and the controversy are already things of the past, but the consequences remain and can continue to disturb the programming of all those tennis players without the two doses administered.

Novak Djokovic has so far experienced a 2022 agitated by this very issue, since after a period of uncertainty and many unknowns he was not allowed to participate in the Australian Open. From that very long break, the Serbian only managed to recover in Belgrade, in his home tournament, even overcoming an illness that had expelled him from the Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo after the first match.

However, the 35-year-old's first victory on the circuit came in May, at the Masters 1000 in Rome, and he was unable to make the jump to Roland Garros (eliminated in the quarterfinals by the Spanish champion Rafael Nadal, who surpassed in the ranking of Grand Slam titles with 22 trophies).

The problems with the Covid issue were only put aside for a moment. In fact, the Belgrade native is on the lookout to understand the next moves of a particular nation, the United States of America. A country where most of the competitions on cement are concentrated, from the Masters 1000 to the last Slam on the calendar.

Bhupathi reflects on Djokovic

A true living legend in India, Mahesh Bhupathi, winner of 12 Grand Slam doubles tournaments between 1995 and 2016, spoke in the columns of India.com. After taking a long time to achieve Rafael Nadal's feat at Roland Garros, the former world number 1 has spoken out on the case of Novak Djokovic, whom he considers to be the mentally strongest player in the Big 3.

“He was under pressure to win the first calendar Grand Slam of his career at the US Open and he was certainly far from his best. As for the match against Nadal, it was certainly the best match at Roland‐Garros. Nadal found a way to wrap up the game.

I wouldn't rule out Novak, he's probably the most mentally tough player we've seen in this generation, but that said, he has his work cut out for him. He has a lot of adversities to deal with by not taking the vaccine. We don't even know if he will be allowed to enter Australia for the next three years.

The US Open is still a question mark, whether they will allow him to play. Wimbledon is a tournament that he absolutely must win to stay in the race for Grand Slam titles."