Novak Djokovic suffered serious image damage due to the Australian soap opera, in addition to having to give up all the American Masters 1000. The 35-year-old from Belgrade capped off his season by winning Wimbledon for the fourth time in a row, the seventh time in history.
Nole has also won the ATP Finals, the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, the Astana ATP 500 and the Tel Aviv ATP 250. A couple of weeks ago, the news came that the Serb will be able to compete at the 2023 Australian Open. In fact, the local government has lifted the three-year ban on his head.
Goran Ivanisevic’s protégé will go in search of his tenth seal in Melbourne Park, which would allow him to reach Rafael Nadal in 22 Grand Slams. Janko Tipsarevic, captain of the Serbian team in the North Palmyra Trophy, the controversial exhibition organized in Saint Petersburg, spoke about his compatriot Novak Djokovic.
For him, everything is very clear and his friend has once again silenced the criticism. “In my opinion, first of all, Novak Djokovic is the best tennis player of all time. And in the end, the bans have not stopped him, quite the opposite.
He won six or seven tournaments and finished in the top five in 2022. For me, he is still simply the best tennis player in the world.” Novak Djokovic ended his 2022 season on a high, recapturing the ATP Finals crown after a long interval of seven years.
“He’s practicing even harder than he was at 22,” Ivanisevic said. “That’s why he’s still so good. You know, the willingness to practice to get better, the willingness to get better is amazing.”
McNamee reflects on Djokovic
Paul McNamee praised Novak Djokovic for sticking to his believes and is confident the Serbian will add some glitz and glamour to the 2023 tennis summer Down Under. “People forget that he set up the COVID vaccination clinics in Serbia, and that his own son’s vaccinated,” he said.
“It’s just what he believes for him – but it’s obviously not what mainstream beliefs are, and fair enough. I’m vaccinated and it’s a personal choice. I was very disappointed with how it went down … that’s the way it goes, isn’t it? But it’s in the past now.
I think this is a great Australian Open to be looking forward to, and with the United Cup kicking off the season, I think we’re going to have a big summer. Novak certainly adds gravy and gravitas to the whole thing”.
