Novak Djokovic postponed the discovery of America

Novak Djokovic will be able to play at the US Open starting in late August, but will almost certainly not play at the March Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami. This became clear after the US government extended until May 11 the ban on entry into the country of foreigners not vaccinated against the coronavirus, promising to cancel this rule after the expiration of this period. Thus, the leadership of the 35-year-old Serbian in the ranking of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he regained after winning the Australian Open, is in jeopardy.

The Australian Open, which ended last Sunday, drastically affected the position in the top ten of the strongest tennis players in the world. Only Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, who remained seventh, retained his previous position there, while Russian Daniil Medvedev, for example, dropped out of the top 10 altogether, giving way to Briton Cameron Norrie there. But the most important thing, of course, is that Novak Djokovic is back at the top of the ATP rankings, replacing Carlos Alcaraz in first place. Now the 374th “leading” week of the Serb is underway, who spent 36% of his professional career as the first racket of the world.

Before the milestone – 400 weeks – Djokovic is exactly six months away. He can celebrate a historic achievement on July 31, but for this, of course, it is necessary that no one get ahead of him. Meanwhile, the US government announced an extension until May 11 of a ban on foreigners not vaccinated against the coronavirus entering the country, promising to lift this rule after the expiration of this period. That is, at the US Open, which starts on August 28, Djokovic will be able to play, but at the mandatory spring competitions of the Masters 1000 category in Indian Wells (March 8-19) and Miami (March 22 – April 2) – no.

All this, of course, complicates the task of Djokovic, although in the struggle for leadership he still remains the clear favorite. The fact is that last season he also did not play in Indian Wells and Miami, that is, now he will not lose a single rating point there (see reference). Moreover, before the start of the clay season, the Serb needs to defend only 90 points awarded to him a year ago for his performance in Dubai, where he dropped out in the quarterfinals and, by the way, lost first place to Daniil Medvedev. But Djokovic’s pursuers will lose points gradually. And above all, this applies to his closest pursuer, the Spaniard Carlos Alcaras, who is now 340 points behind the Serb, but in February 2022 he won the 500 category clay tournament in Rio de Janeiro, and then reached the semi-finals in Indian Wells and sensationally took the title in Miami, gaining 1860 points in two months.

Djokovic’s more dangerous competitor at the moment is Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Greek is 875 points behind the leader, but in February and March he should not defend so much – 660 points, since a year ago he lost in the 1/16 finals in Indian Wells, and in the 1/8 finals in Miami. That is, the full-time dispute between them for the first place, which took place in the final of the Australian Open, actually transformed into a correspondence form. Most likely, these two tennis players will not intersect either at the 500 category tournament in Rotterdam (February 13-19), where Djokovic is not registered, but, however, he can still ask for a wild card, nor in Dubai (February 27-March 4), since Tsitsipas , unlike him, plans to perform in Acapulco during these dates.

As for the three strongest Russian players, who are among the top 15 in the world, they currently have different prospects. Let’s say Karen Khachanov, who needs to defend only 110 points in February and March, has every chance to return to the top ten. Daniil Medvedev, who scored 405 points last year for the “reporting period”, can also do it. But, according to preliminary estimates, he needs to “shoot” at least one of the four major tournaments – in Rotterdam, Acapulco, Indian Wells and Miami – and show fairly good results at least two more. It will be more difficult to rise above Andrei Rublev, who is now fifth. Last time he gave out an excellent February series – he was in the semi-finals of Rotterdam, then he won in Marseille and Dubai, and in Indian Wells he played the semi-finals, gaining 1300 points.

Evgeny Fedyakov