Ahead of the US Open, just under two years after his last match on the American soil, Djokovic is about to make his comeback on Tuesday as he confirmed that the desire to play tennis is still pretty much there.
Before entering the court for singles on Wednesday, the Serb will be paring with compatriot Nikola Cacic in the men’s doubles draw at Cincinnati Masters on Tuesday. This will definitely come as a relief for the 23-time Grand Slam Champion’s as he will be retaking the American hardcourts after a hiatus of 23 months.
From getting deported from Australia over vaccine row and being banned from entering mainland America because of the similar reason to getting past his greatest rival Nadal in the GS tally, the 36-year old has seen a lot in those 23 tumultuous months.
Thanks to his Australian Open and French Open triumphs, Djokvoic with 23-majors under his belt could have had a couple more had he been allowed to compete at Melbourne Park and New York last year. However, the 3-time US Open Champion is not someone who reflects back with ifs and buts.
“Throughout my life I’ve really developed this kind of mindset that I don’t look back with regret on things,” Djokovic said. “Things happening on the outside, the reason I was not here for two years, I have zero regrets. I’m glad to be back. I’ve had plenty of success on American soil.”
He added: “I’m very excited to return to the country after two years; I’m very grateful for all the love that people are giving me.”
Having already won plenty of silverware at New York, Miami, Indian Wells and Cincinnati, the Serbian admits that the fire to continue playing is still burning strong and he wants to repeat some of that in the next few weeks starting at the Cincinnati Open where he won titles in 2018 and 2020.
Despite being on the wrong side of 30, when people are interested to learn about his retirement plans, Djokovic is not yet ready to hang his racquet.
“I have to recover as quickly as possible and be ready to give my best for the exciting challenges that lie ahead,” the Serbian said “If I weren’t motivated, I would stop playing.
“It’s exciting that after almost 20 years on Tour, to keep that inner fire that drives me to fight for big goals. I want to keep winning tournaments.”