Stan Wawrinka and Gael Monfils have agreed to compete at the Serbia Open this year, per Sasa Ozmo. This year, the Serbia Open is not taking place at its regular venue in Belgrade due to the ongoing renovations at the Novak Tennis Center in Belgrade.
Instead, this year’s Serbia Open edition will be taking place in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Gael Monfils and Stan Wawrinka to play in Banjaluka, possibly Rublev, Khachanov and Tiafoe. — Saša Ozmo (@ozmo_sasa) March 7, 2023
At the Serbia Open, Djordje Djokovic is the tournament director.
In the past two years, Novak Djokovic competed at the Serbia Open. In a recent interview with Serbian journalists in Belgrade, Djokovic confirmed he plans to return to the Serbia Open from April 17-23.
Wawrinka, Monfils join Djokovic at the Serbia Open
Wawrinka, 37, and 36-year-old Monfils will also join Djokovic in the Serbia Open player field.
For Wawrinka and Monfils, it will be their first appearance at the Serbia Open. Unfortunately for Djokovic, Serbia might lose the Serbia Open. Recently, Djokovic revealed that the licence borrowed from Ion Tiriac is leased through 2023.
The Djokovic family has made attempts to buy the licence from Tiriac but the former tennis star is refusing to do so. Because of that, the Serbia Open likely won’t return in 2024. “First of all, I must say that the licence is not ours.
We leased it from its owner Ion Tiriac and now he wants it back. We wanted to buy the licence, to host the tournament in Serbia for many years to come, because we were successful – many people in the stands, ATP gave us excellent grades for all the efforts, but there is not much we can do when the owner doesn’t want to sell the licence.
We have to respect that,” Djokovic told Sport Klub. However, Djokovic vowed to continue finding “different alternatives to get the licence.” “We are now looking into two different alternatives to get the licence. Either to apply with the ATP for the new licence – which is less likely because there are many tournaments as it is – or to negotiate a lease on another licence.
Possibly to even buy that licence, but the prices have gone through the roof and most tournaments are profitable, so it is understandable that they don’t want to sell. Our desire is big, so we will see,“ Djokovic explained.
