The Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic, who has not played since last February and missed the Indian Wells and Miami Masters 1000 for not obtaining a permit to enter the United States without being vaccinated against Covid, confirmed this Wednesday that he will reappear on the circuit in the Monte Carlo Masters 1000, a tournament that will be played from April 9 to 16.
“I’m sorry I missed Indian Wells and Miami, but it’s a decision I made consciously. I’m going to return in Monte Carlo and I hope to do it in the best way,” said the 35-year-old Serb in an interview in his country.
Djokovic, champion this year in Adelaide and the Australian Open, and finalist in Dubai (lost to Russian Daniil Medvedev) ceded world number one to Spanish Carlos Alcaraz after his absence in Indian Wells because the US government did not allowed him to enter the country for not having been vaccinated against the coronavirus. In any case, if Alcaraz, champion in Indian Wells, does not retain the title in Miami, he will lose the points he had obtained last year and number one will return to Djokovic’s hands.
The Serbian, who equaled the record of 22 Grand Slam titles held exclusively by Spanish Rafael Nadal in Australia, will return in April on the European clay court tour. In Monte Carlo, Djokovic will meet for the first time this year in the same tournament with “Rafa” Nadal, in the final phase of his recovery, and with Alcaraz, who missed the start of the season due to injury and just started at the Argentina Open , a tournament that he won after defeating the British Cameron Norrie in the final.
The Monte Carlo Masters 1000 has Nadal as the top champion with a record 11 titles, the last in 2018, while Djokovic won it twice (2013 and 2015). The last two editions were won by the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (2021 and 2022).
