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Novak Djokovic has returned to Australia twelve months after the absurd soap opera that had led to his expulsion from the country. The Serbian phenomenon had not been able to participate in the Australian Open 2022 due to his vaccination status, which had resulted in a hubbub that had gone around the world.
The former ATP number 1 had been forced to leave Australia and had suffered serious damage to his image. For the same reason, the 35-year-old from Belgrade had also had to give up the US Open and all the American Masters 1000.
The 21-time Grand Slam champion will start his 2023 by playing the ATP 250 in Adelaide, and then go hunting for his tenth seal at the AOs. If he were to arrive in double figures at Melbourne Park, Nole would hook his eternal rival Rafael Nadal at 22 Grand Slams.
The 'Djoker' managed to close 2022 in the Top 5 thanks to successes at Wimbledon and the ATP Finals in Turin. Goran Ivanisevic's protégé aims to return to the top in 2023.
Rita Panahi defends Djokovic
Over time, tongues loosened and it is almost disturbing to see how the Australian media treated the return of Novak Djokovic when a year ago it was a real manhunt that had been organized.
As Rita Panahi explains, twelve months later, everything has changed and it's time to take stock of what happened. “It was so bizarre that instead of resenting the government and the excessive restrictions placed on him, the anger was wrongly directed at Novak,” explained the Sky Sports presenter who had taken part in the mass hysteria , a form of confession in a way.
Holger Rune has distanced himself from the GOAT debate between Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. “I think nothing about this, to be honest. I hate the GOAT discussion because who won the most titles, who won the most Grand Slams, who was No.
1 for the longest time. I mean, all these guys are incredible. They have achieved something that is history-making. It also pushes the younger generations to what’s possible," Holger Rune said. “Records are there to be broken.
And now these guys made us work even harder to break records. That’s good for the future of tennis. The level will increase even more. I think players like Federer, Novak, Nadal, and Murray showed us the extremely high level of tennis and that is what makes the younger generation so good today. I hope we can continue like that in tennis, raising the level even more. I think it is possible," he added.