The world number had allowed the doubt about its participation in the next Grand Chelem Australian, refusing to say whether it was vaccinated, a condition imposed for entry into the country.
Le Monde
Novak Djokovic, first in the Ranking of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), was selected in the Serbian team for ATP Cup, which will open the season in Sydney in January, announced the organizers, Tuesday December 7, after many questions about his coming to Australia.
The winner of twenty Tournaments du Grand Chelem, had allowed the doubt about his participation in the Australian Open in January, refusing to say whether it was vaccinated, a condition imposed for entry into the country.
In the press release announcing the draw of ATP Cup, Djokovic is included in the list of five players presented by Serbia. This competition between sixteen nations will take place from the 1th of January to raise curtain of the tennis season, upstream of the Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne (January 17-30).
After the defeat of his Davis Cup team last week, the 34-year-old Serb had promised an upcoming decision on his participation in the Australian Open, whose organizers had confirmed that no exemption at immunization obligation would be made. The father of the player had declared last month on Serbian television that his son “would probably not play” in Australia “in these conditions”, evoking a “blackmail”.
Novak Djokovic contracted COVID-19 without presenting symptoms in June 2020 during the Adria Tour, tournament he organized in the Balkan Peninsula. Rafael Nadal, also the winner of Twenty Tournaments du Grand Slam, is not part of the Spanish selection, after suggesting last month that he would participate in an exhibition in Abu Dhabi and then to another tournament before arriving in Melbourne for The Open of Australia. The only other absent among the twenty best players in the world is Switzerland Roger Federer, wounded.