Tournament Director Opens Up on Novak Djokovic’s Participation at Australian Open 2022

20-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic has inarguably been the best tennis player of the 2021 season. However, he has also sparked the biggest question in the tennis world today: Will he play the Australian Open next year? On this, Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley shared his view.

Notably, Djokovic has lifted a record nine of his 20 major titles in Melbourne Park. But because of the coronavirus scenario, the Happy Slam might induce restrictions for unvaccinated players. Hence, the Serbian World No.1 has decided to wait until the final update from Tennis Australia.

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Craig Tiley expects Novak Djokovic to play Australian Open 2022

On the Today Show, CEO of Tennis Australia Craig Tiley announced the start of the Australian Open 2022 preparations. He expressed excitement to see Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams but missed Novak Djokovic.

Therefore, the host asked Tiley whether the Serbian ace would come to Melbourne or not. “It’s a good question,” Tiley said. “We are expecting Novak to come, and obviously, there’s a lot of speculation around the vaccination.”

In continuation, the AO tournament director claimed that most of the tennis players, both on the men’s and the women’s side, are fully vaccinated. But since Djokovic has kept his vaccination status private, his participation remains under clouds. But Tiley hopes his most successful player will come.

“He has had great success here in Melbourne, and he has always said that the Australian Open is the event that puts the wind in his sails. So I hope we get to see Novak,” Tiley concluded.

Indeed, Novak’s decision for Australia will impact his entire 2022 season. And considering his hunger to get past Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the Most Grand Slams race, him participating is likely than the other alternative.

Djokovic enters semifinals in ATP Finals 2021

Currently, the 34-year-old is in Turin competing at the ATP Finals 2021. So far, he has been undefeated and will next play against Alexander Zverev for a place in the final.

Here, Djokovic is looking forward to equalling Federer’s six-time ATP Finals winner record. Thus, it would be a blockbuster match between two friends and budding rivals on hard courts.

In time, the world will find out whether Djokovic levels Federer in this feat or not. Likewise, tennis fans hope for the Serbian ace to confirm his Australian Open 2022 participation soon.

Do you think Djokovic would miss the Happy Slam next year?

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