Novak Djokovic’s 2022 was certainly the strangest year of his career. The Serbian champion started the season with the Australian Open nightmare, sent home by the Australian government due to the decision not to get vaccinated.
Nole missed the entire American tour and was forced to sit still for some time. Criticisms and an anomalous situation for one of the strongest tennis players in history and a really tough year until a few days ago.
Upon returning to the season on clay, Djokovic appeared out of condition and despite the victory in Rome he collapsed instead in Paris where he lost the match against eternal rival Rafa Nadal. Just when the season seemed to be taking a bad turn Nole reacted well and took the win at the Wimbledon tournament.
A tournament that he played very well, raising the level in the highlights and winning in the final against Nick Kyrgios.
Novak Djokovic, what will happen in the future?
The rest of Novak Djokovic’s season, on the other hand, remains a great puzzle.
Some countries do not accept people without vaccines and Djokovic’s presence on the American continent appears to be quite remote. Canada and the United States do not accept Djokovic and therefore the Serbian champion risks missing several tournaments, slipping far behind in the ranking.
In this regard, the director of the Montreal Masters 1000 tournament Jean Lapierre spoke about the possible presence of Nole. Here are his statements: “The situation is clear, either Canada changes its rules or Novak Djokovic has to get the vaccine. Only in this way can the tennis player be present at the tournament. At the moment I don’t think either scenario is probable.”
Novak Djokovic has not participated in the Masters 1000 in Montreal since 2018, a tournament where he was eliminated in the Round of 16 by Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Canadian Health Minister Jean Yves Duclos spoke about Djokovic’s possible presence as follows: “The rules apply to everyone. There are always exceptions, but the rules apply to everyone and we need to reiterate it.”
In the next weeks we will have more news, at least about the US Open.