Impacts on Tennis History of Novak Djokovic Being Allowed to Play

Pedro Kapitanovas

Ever since the establishment of the Open Era in tennis (1968), there has been a complete domination of the major statistics in the sport by three different players: Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. The greatest example of these records is the clash between the three of them to hold the record for the most grand slams titles (which are the most important tournaments in tennis), in which Roger Federer has 20, Novak Djokovic has 21, Rafael Nadal has 22, and the next closest competitor, Pete Sampras, has 14

This battle has been ongoing for over a decade, in which all of the aforementioned players would be constantly gathering titles yearly, usually mostly in the tournaments that suited their strengths the most: Rafael Nadal has 14 Rolland Garros titles, Novak Djokovic has 9 Australian Open titles, and Roger Federer has 8 Wimbledon titles. However, this has been slowing down, since Federer hasn’t competed in any major tournaments since 2018, and Nadal has been dealing with a plethora of different injuries, which resulted in him playing fewer tournaments and achieving underwhelming results.

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic has been in the form of his life, winning three out of four grand slam titles in 2021, and 50% of the ones he competed in 2022. It must be highlighted that he only played two of these major tournaments, due to his refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccine. This meant that his chances of conquering the title of most grand slams won were severely hindered, especially since there wasn’t a prediction of when he would be able to play in these competitions (the Australian Open and the US open).

This takes us to the tremendously impactful news that Djokovic has been granted an Australian Visa, and therefore is allowed to compete in the 2023 Australian Open. This is important not only due to the fact that it most likely means that he will also be able to partake in the 2023 US Open, but also because this the grand slam in which he has achieved the most success (winning a total of nine titles, which makes him the sole person with the most titles at the competition).

In conclusion, Novak Djokovic is one of the most successful tennis players of all time, and is in a fierce competition with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federed to claim the title of the statistically most dominant player in history. However, due to his refusal to take the COVID 19 vaccine, he wasn’t able to attend all of the possible tournaments, which severely hindered his conquest of achieving the aforementioned goals. This all changed when the Australian government announced that he was granted a visa and is allowed to attend the 2023 Australian Open, which most likely completely altered tennis history forever.