Djokovic: ‘I’ve missed tennis so much’
There were no issues at passport control for Novak Djokovic this time.
When the unvaccinated Serb landed in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday before his return to competition at next week’s Dubai Championships, he was waved through and given a warm welcome, in stark contrast to his arrival in Australia last month.
A friendly reception also greeted him out and about in the city. Adoring fans chanted “Nole”, his nickname, as he walked into the Serbian national pavilion at the Expo 2020 exhibition for an event staged by his charity foundation.
“I’m excited to go out on the tennis court next Monday,” Djokovic told reporters. “I miss tennis honestly after everything that has happened.”
After high-fiving children and posing for selfies, Djokovic then addressed the crowd. He expressed his regret that he was unable to have more direct involvement with the foundation because of his tennis schedule, before acknowledging to laughter and applause: “It’s not as busy as it used to be.”
The lighthearted comment backs up what insiders close to Djokovic’s team have told The Times in recent weeks. After a miserable 11 days in Australia that ended in deportation on the night before his campaign for a record 21st grand-slam men’s singles title was scheduled to begin, associates have been struck by his positive mood ever since.
A spell of our weeks in his homeland appears to have been something of a detox for the mind. Rather than heading back from Australia to his mansions in Marbella or Monte Carlo, where he spends most of his time away from the court, Djokovic decided instead to travel to Belgrade. After coming under intense scrutiny for his medical exemption from a Covid-19 vaccine, staying in a country where he is considered a hero was a sensible course of action.
As a result, Djokovic has not felt the need to lie low. Two days after arriving, he was seen quietly entering a local church and sitting in the back row during a prayer service without any fuss. Later in the week, he embarked on a pilgrimage to the Ostrog Monastery, a site in the mountains for Orthodox Christians, renowned for its peaceful surroundings.
While he has been the subject of much criticism elsewhere for his views on vaccinations, Djokovic has shielded himself from this by remaining among those who are fiercely protective of him. On January 28 he was swarmed by the welcoming residents of Budva, a small Adriatic Sea resort in Montenegro, where he received a plague declaring him as an honorary citizen of the town. On February 3 Djokovic had an audience with President Aleksandar Vucic to thank him for the support he offered during his detention in Australia.
Djokovic has also been able to lead a fairly normal life in familiar surroundings, going out for dinner with his wife, Jelena, and enjoying evening strolls with his support team by the Danube river. One Belgrade resident turned around after paying for car parking at a ticket machine and was stunned to find Djokovic standing behind him in the queue.
All of this provided a distraction from the action at the Australian Open. Djokovic admitted in his interview with the BBC this week that he was reluctant to watch the final, as his great rival Rafael Nadal claimed the grand-slam record that was seemingly destined to be his.
“I didn’t want to watch the match because I felt I wanted to be on the court,” Djokovic said. “It was really hard for me to watch, so I was very neutral and didn’t cheer for anyone because I wanted to be there so badly. But I was amused by the circumstances that I was experiencing. My wife was cheering for [Daniil] Medvedev, and my [seven-year-old] son was cheering for Nadal. Every point that Rafa won, Stefan would be jumping around and fist-bumping like Rafa.”
