Why Was Novak Djokovic Cleared to Defend Title at French Open 2022?

Novak Djokovic will agree that his 2022 has been full of ups and downs. At the beginning of the year, he faced a controversy of a very different kind to the ones he’s used to on the court. After losing a multi-day judicial struggle over whether he could take part in the Australian Open, the 34-year-old Serbian superstar’s vaccination status led to him being deported from Australia in January.

Novak Djokovic and his Australian Open woes

In February, Djokovic also took part in a tell-all interview. He told the BBC that he was willing to miss tournaments, even the important ones if he was barred because of his vaccination status. This was because he believed strongly in bodily autonomy and maintaining the “freedom to choose what you put in your body.” He said, “Because the principles of decision making on my body are more important than any title or anything else,” Djokovic said. “I’m trying to be in tune with my body as much as I possibly can.”

Since then, similar trouble plagued him for quite some time. Because of the vaccination mandates in the United States, he also missed out on the US hard court swing. This included some of the ATP tournaments he looks forward to the most in a calendar year.

Dive deeper: Why Has Novak Djokovic Never Won The Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award?

The World No. 1’s French Open bid

For the first time since the epidemic began, France recovered some normalcy on March 14. As a result, some restrictions and prohibitions in most public venues were eased, except for public transportation, nursing homes, and hospitals.

WATCH THIS STORY: Novak Djokovic’s epic finals against Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem, Andy Murray, Wilfried Tsonga at the Australian Open

Amelie Mauresmo, the tournament director of the French Open and a former WTA player, announced at a press conference two days later that they had allowed the Serbian to compete in the major after France lifted most COVID-19 restrictions. “At the moment, nothing prevents Djokovic from competing at the French Open,” Mauresmo remarked.

And luckily the French Open organization has kept up its end of the bargain, thus enabling Djokovic to try to defend his title from 2022. Clay for Djokovic has always relatively been his least successful surface. But given the rest of his season, Djokovic’s 2022 clay season looks quite impressive!

Also read: ‘It’s a Relief’- Novak Djokovic on Italian Open 2022 Victory After a Rough Start to the Year

The Serb won the French Open titles twice in his career. The first time was in 2016, when he defeated Andy Murray in four sets. The second time was last year. Much like Nadal at the Australian open 2022, Novak Djokovic overcame a two-set lead by Stefanos Tsitsipas to clinch his 19th Grand Slam title.