By Tim Parsons-
Novak Djokovic will have the opportunity to defend his French Open title at this year’s tournament, regardless of whether or not he is vaccinated against COVID-19, according to reports. The world No 1 was disappointed after he lost his appeal to stay in the country and participate in the Australian open, and is currently watching the Australian Open from home after he was deported from the country on the eve of the competition in Melbourne earlier this month.
Djokovic was detained shortly upon his arrival in Australia earlier this month before he was released and then detained again due to concerns over his medical exemption to enter the country.
He was eventually forced to return to Serbia after a final appeal was rejected out of hand, leaving him unable to compete at the first Grand Slam of the new year.
It was believed that the tennis ace would be denied entry to France after a recent law change mandating the use of vaccine passports in order to enter public places, and given President Emmanuel Macron’s tough stance on vaccination.
However, new rules approved by the country will now allow the 34-year-old to play, raising questions as to the basis for the initial rule established by the French government to create a hostile environment over the vaccination dispute.
This suggests that Djokovic will experience little difficulty in entering the country after returning a positive test in mid-December.
It is claimed that he will be able to travel to France until at least June if he remains unvaccinated under the new regulations. The French Open is scheduled to begin on May 22nd and end on June 5th.
Djokovic won the top prize at Roland Garros last year, beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final after overcoming the challenge of pre-tournament favourite Rafael Nadal in their semi-final meeting.
Djokovic’s coach, Marian Vajda, recently insisted that the Serb will eventually make a successful return to the Grand Slam circuit despite being affected by his recent ordeal in Australia and facing the prospect of being banned from more tournaments due to his vaccination status.
“I still don’t understand why they did it to him,” Vajda told Sportklub earlier this week.
“It was an unhealthy and unjust decision, based on the assumption that Djokovic could do or influence something that has not yet happened.