Novak feels that his Covid vaccination status and the Australian Open saga related with it showed him the true colours of his rivals on the tour.
The 35-year-old Djokovic will take on second seed Marin Cilic of Croatia, who was a 7-5, 6-3 winner against Frenchman Constant Lestienne in the ATP 250 tournament.
A day after Roger Federer's announcement that next week's Laver Cup will be his final ATP event, World No. 7 Novak Djokovic on Friday wrote a farewell message, saying that the Swiss legend's career set the tone for achieving excellence and lead with integrity and poise.
Djokovic is not bothered by a deficit in a game, a set, a match. He does not mind problem-solving. And at Wimbledon, for quite some time now, he does not get defeated.
Following the victory, Djokovic said it was the toilet break when he was two sets down that changed everything for him.
The 34-year-old Serbian was aiming to reach a record-extending 55th ATP Masters 1000 final, but was unable to overcome the 19-year-old Alcaraz
The Dubai Open -- an ATP 500 event -- should be a strong starting point for Djokovic for the upcoming season after he was not allowed to compete in the opening Grand Slam of the year due to his unvaccinated COVID-19 status
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The nine-time Australian Open champion, who has won consecutive titles at Melbourne Park since 2019, had initially been granted a medical exemption to compete in the tournament.
However, lawyers for the federal government told the court the country's immigration minister was reserving the right to exercise his personal power to again revoke Djokovic's visa.
World No. 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic will be allowed to play in the French Open even if he is not vaccinated against Covid-19, France's sports minister Roxane Maracineanu said on Friday.
Djokovic, 34, has refused to reveal his vaccination status, but last year said he was "opposed to vaccination".
"18 of the top 20 tennis players in the world will feature in the tournament set to run from January 1-9 as the main ATP precursor to the Australian Open."
Djokovic's world No. 1 ranking could be threatened if he decides to skip the Australian Open in protest against the organisers' decision to not allow unvaccinated players to compete in the year's opening major.
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