Novak Djokovic commits to Australian Open but calls on officials to ease quarantine restrictions

Getty Images

Novak Djokovic has committed to defending his Australian Open title regardless of the quarantine measures but the world No1 called on officials down under to allow players to train and compete during their confinement. 

Victoria state government said on Wednesday that players would not be allowed to arrive until the new year and then have to isolate in their hotel rooms for two weeks. 

Tennis authorities are pushing for some leeway to allow the leading men and women players to train in a biosecure bubble. 

“I would like to go there and I’m ready to go there and I’m ready to quarantine for two weeks or whatever is necessary for me to be able to play,” said Djokovic. 

“I hope that there is going to be support and understanding from the Victorian and Australian government for the players and for Tennis Australia, and that they will allow players to compete in the second week of quarantine. 

“That’s going to help tremendously with the calendar and everything, and you won’t be then losing a week. You will be able to have at least a tournament or two prior to the Australian Open, which for the majority of the players is important.” 

Djokovic hinted the Australian Open could be pushed back by a week to allow for both the quarantine measures and for some competition before the first Grand Slam of the season.

Getty Images

The Serbian will again begin the event as the pre-tournament favourite but finds himself in a battle for a winning end to 2020 after a shock defeat by Daniil Medvedev at the O2 Arena on Wednesday night. 

Djokovic was completely outplayed at his own game by Medvedev in a 6-3, 6-3 loss, which sets up a must-win tie against the 2018 ATP Finals champion Alexander Zverev on Friday.

Following that defeat, he said: “It was just not a great match from my side. I thought I could have and should have done better.”  

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in