Will Australian fans celebrate Novak Djokovic?
After the calamities at the beginning of 2022, Novak Djokovic will be starting January 1, 2023 in Adelaide again for the first time in a tennis tournament in Australia. The reactions of the fans to the returnee will hopefully be positive.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Dec 27, 2022, 02:55 pm
To speak of a slight gallop for Novak Djokovic when he returns to Australia would be a completely wrong approach given the starting field at the ATP Tour 250 tournament in Adelaide. Daniil Medvedev, as well as Andrey Rublev or Félix Auger-Aliassime, also Holger Rune, Jannik Sinner, Denis Shapovalov or Dominic Thiem have announced the first of two events in the capital of the state of South Australia from New Year's Day 2023.
Djokovic is still the favourite, despite the two non-significant appearances at the World Tennis League in Dubai against Alexander Zverev and Sebastian Ofner. The Serb finally won the last competitive match, in the final of the ATP Finals in Turin against Casper Ruud.
Tiley is looking forward to Djokovic
The anticipation of the 21-time Grand Slam champion was already audible in Dubai. “Over the years I've had the privilege of starting very strongly in Australia. And I love playing there," Djokovic sent a few warm words before his departure to Down Under. "After what happened earlier this year, I hope to get a nice reception from the fans. And that it helps me to play good tennis."
That's right, there was something: at the beginning of 2022 Djokovic landed in Australia unvaccinated, assuming he would get an exemption to participate in the first major of the year. As is well known, that was not the case, Djokovic had to leave without having achieved anything.
Craig Tiley, the head of Tennis Australia, was not entirely uninvolved in the mess at the time. But who is now convinced that his compatriots are paying due respect to Melbourne's record champions. "We welcome him back to Australia," said Tiley on Tuesday. “I have great faith in the Australian public. And I have a lot of faith in the fans to react in the way we hope they will react."