Novak Djokovic prepares for Australian Open but medical exemption obstacle still remains

Following Novak Djokovic's withdraw from the ongoing ATP Cup the tennis fans around the world are keeping a close eye on the Serbian over his participation at the upcoming Australian Open. Tennis Australia has decided to allow vaccinated players to take part in the Australian Open but with Novak Djokovic vaccine status unknown there are still question raised about his participation.

Novak Djokovic prepares for Australian Open

The Twitter handle of SotoTennis Academy posted a video online recently in which Novak Djokovic is seen practising on the tennis court. The caption of the image stated We can confirm Novak Djokovic is ready for the Australian Open if possible.

Recently Novak Djokovic Serbia teammate Dusan Lajovic while speaking about Novak Djokovic's withdrawal from ATP Cup said, “I don’t know the official reason but maybe the ATP knows. (Djokovic) just said that he’s not coming to the ATP Cup and he’s trying to get to the Australian Open. He said, ‘I’m not coming guys to the ATP Cup; we’ll see about the Australian Open’. I mean, he didn’t specify if he’s coming or not but that he’s waiting for a decision.”

Novak Djokovic medical exemption request denied

 In the latest update over Novak Djokovic participation at the Australian Open, Yahoo has reported that Novak Djokovic will not be part of the Australian Open after his medical exemption was denied. The World No.1 is on the entry list of the tournament however he is yet committed to the first Grand Slam event of the year because of the Covid-19 vaccination mandate 

Recently Australian Open boss Craig Tiley said that a small cohort of players and staff would be allowed into Melbourne Park without being vaccinated after being granted medical exemptions. But, at this stage, no players had informed Open officials they had received an exemption.

Speaking about Novak Djokovic's participation chances at the Australian Open 2022, Tiley had said, “If Novak shows up at the Australian Open, he’ll either be vaccinated or he’ll have a medical exemption. It’s his choice on his medical condition, it’s his choice to keep personal and private like all of us would do with any condition we may or may not have. We are not going to force him or ask him to disclose that.”

Image: Australian Open/ Instagram