“The main reason I’m here in Australia is the Australian Open” This is what Novak Djokovic said at a press conference after winning the Adelaide title, the first of the new season. The Serbian player began his preparation for the first round of the Slam in Adelaide, a return to Melbourne Park after the stormy events of last year.
If at this point you already have the certainty of the presence of the current champion (taking into account that last year he could not defend his title), there are doubts about other dates prior to the Slam stage. At the press conference, Novak Djokovic was asked about his plans for the Australian Open and if these plans include Nick Kyrgios.
“Now we have to see. The week is long. Luckily, I will have time to recover. It’s been a long five weeks of pre-season and then getting to Australia. I spent almost two weeks in Adelaide training hard, with many hours spent on the pitch.
I’m happy with how I’m playing, how I feel. Now it’s really a set-up, it’s about adapting to the conditions. In Melbourne they are slightly different. Take it easy because this week has been very intense,” said the former world number one.
It seems, therefore, that Djokovic has no other goal than to return to the Australian Open, where he has won nine times, no one like him in the Australian city. That is why his response to the question of whether there would be an opportunity to see him in Kooyong was emphatic: “No, I will not play in Kooyong.
I’ll be at Melbourne Park, yes.” The Kooyong Classic is an exhibition tennis tournament played on concrete. It is held annually in January, the week before the Australian Open, at the Kooyong Stadium in Melbourne (Australia).
McEnroe comments on Djokovic
Novak Djokovic warmed up for the Australian Open with a win at the Adelaide ATP 250 event on Sunday, yet tennis legend John McEnroe believes he will be harboring some bitterness ahead of the first major of 2023.
“I think he can get through that, he’s obviously proven that he has gone through some unbelievably difficult obstacles, none more so than the last 12 months of his career. The fact that he was still able to go out and win Wimbledon and go out and play these smaller events in the fall to get his ranking high enough so that he can go and win the event in Turin and the year-end event, and embrace playing and competing, was just incredible because it would have been very easy to be frustrated and angry.
