Novak Djokovic Reveals Surprise Changes To Australian Open Schedule

World Number two, Novak Djokovic has confirmed his appearance at the ATP 250 event in Adelaide in the month of January next year which will take place a week before the Australian Open 2020.

Adelaide tournament will get underway from 12 to 18 January 2020, which right after the ATP Cup 2020 which is taking place from 3 to 12 January 2020. Right after Novak finishes his duties at ATP Cup 2020, Djokovic will fly to Adelaide.   

The Serb’s decision to play in Adelaide is a surprising one as before entering the Melbourne major to defend his title at Australian Open 2020, Novak Djokovic would have played a lot of tennis in advance. Over the past ten years, the only time Djokovic played a week before a Grand Slam was at Eastbourne International 2017 which was prior to Wimbledon.  

If Djokovic reaches the finals in Adelaide, then he is expected to have less than 48 hours of rest before his first match on Rod Laver Arena at the Australian Open. His rest period also includes his flight from Southern Australia to Melbourne which is the coastal tip of the Australian state of Victoria.

This year, the Serbian legend played at Qatar Open 2019 before the Melbourne major and lost to Roberto Bautista Agut in the semifinals of Doha. The Doha tournament began two weeks before the commencement of the Australian Open.

Novak Djokovic is giving his best to revive his position on ATP’s summit. The Serb is presently trailing by 840 points from the World Number one ranking. His participation in Adelaide would bolster his run to the ATP’s top spot.

The 2019 tennis has been a phenomenal season for Novak Djokovic with five titles which include two Slams and tearfully concluded the season at Davis Cup Finals 2019. However, at ATP World Tour Finals 2019, he could just win a match and lost his year-end World Number one ranking to Rafael Nadal. Also, his shoulder issues denied him to defend his title at the US Open 2019.

World Number one, Rafael Nadal will be playing ATP Cup before the Melbourne major and Roger Federer will commence his 2020 season at the Australian Open 2020.

Besides Novak Djokovic, Alex de Minaur, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Lucas Pouille, Andrey Rublev, Pablo Carreno Busta, Taylor Fritz, Cristian Garin, Jan-Lennard Struff and Matteo Berrettini have confirmed their appearance in Adelaide’s ATP 250 event.

From the WTA’s circuit, Ashleigh Barty and Simona Halep will show up for the tournament.