Wimbledon 2022 champion Novak Djokovic bagged his seventh Wimbledon title on July 10 and now holds 21 Grand Slam titles, one ahead of Roger Federer and one behind Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic is currently in his vacation mode and the much discussed topic among his fans is to when will he return back on court to continue his pursuit of winning titles. The next Slam tournament is the U.S. Open, and the bigger question is, ‘Will Djokovic perform or not?’
Djokovic said, “I would really love to go there,” when asked about his appearance in the US Open.
As of now, Novak Djokovic can’t participate because he is not inoculated against COVID-19. He hasn’t taken the Covid vaccination yet and thus, can’t enter the United States. Djokovic’s stand on vaccination also made news in January this year when he tried to participate in Australian Open via a tournament-backed exemption. However, it ended up in court and in detention, which eventually led to the revocation of his visa. He was then deported from Australia.
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The decision lies in Djokovic’s hands. Fans are speculating that their champion would get inoculated in order to win titles but Djokovic cleared at the All England Club on Sunday after beating Nick Kyrgios 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3) that he is not planning to get vaccinated. Undoubtedly, he has achieved quite a lot in terms of breaking Federer’s record for the most weeks atop the ATP. However, there are some uncertain times going for Wimbledon champion.
Djokovic lost 2,000 points even after winning the 2021 title at Wimbledon, while simultaneously gaining zero points for winning the 2022 title. This happened after the WTA and ATP decision of withholding all ranking points in response to the ban on athletes from Russia and Belarus over the war in Ukraine.
The US Open begins from August 29 but whether big Tennis names will be seen in the tournament or not, is still uncertain.
No. 1-ranked Daniil Medvedev, the Russian who beat Djokovic last year at the U.S. Open final, ended his bid for the first calendar-year Grand Slam by a man since 1969, as he was not allowed to be at the All England Club. Roger Federer won’t be at the US Open as he hasn’t played in a year and has also slid out of the rankings. Rafael Nadal’s entry is very bleak after his withdrawal from Wimbledon with a torn abdominal muscle. And now with no vaccination yet, Djokovic’s chances are still on the cliff’s edge.
The whole play that happened in Melbourne six months ago, took a toll on Djokovic. He said so and his coach, Goran Ivanisevic agreed to it as well.
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Ivanisevic said that we all expected (to hear) from him after a couple of weeks: OK, forget about Australia. Let’s go back and practice. However, it took a long time for Djokovic to come in a better mental and emotional place.
While uncertainties are roaming around Djokovic’s participation in the US Open, it is quite evident that his career spent chasing Federer in the Slam standings, and now would like to surpass Nadal, too, something that might take longer if Djokovic won’t make himself eligible for every major event.
Also, Djokovic said in a report that he isn’t thinking to end his career in a day or two. But, whether his idea about Covid vaccination will become a hurdle in achieving titles or not, is what time will tell.
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