Novak Djokovic missed playing big US events and excited to be back

Novak Djokovic missed playing big US events and is excited to be back

The 23-times Grand Slam champion was not allowed to compete in the U.S. last year and earlier this year over his refusal to take a COVID-19 vaccine, but returned after the U.S. government relaxed its rules for unvaccinated foreign travelers in May

Novak Djokovic (SRB) returns a shot against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP) during the Western and Southern Open tennis tournament at Lindner Family Tennis Center.

Novak Djokovic said he missed playing in the biggest tournaments in the United States and was thrilled to be back after easing to victory in his first singles match there in two years at the Cincinnati Open on Wednesday.

The 23-times Grand Slam champion was not allowed to compete in the U.S. last year and earlier this year over his refusal to take a COVID-19 vaccine, but returned after the U.S. government relaxed its rules for unvaccinated foreign travelers in May.

Playing singles in Cincinnati for the first time since 2019, the 36-year-old Serbian won the first set 6-4 against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who later retired with a back issue.

Time passes quickly. Four years appear as though it was yesterday. So it's most certainly ideal to be back," Djokovic told columnists. "I've had a few truly pleasant recollections from this competition.

"Winning it in 2018 clearly is a feature for me, since it was the main Experts I hadn't won for a really long time. I assume I lost four or five finals for the most part to Roger (Federer).

"However, I played well before and was truly happy to get an opportunity to return to the States. It's been two years. I missed it. Probably the greatest competitions in our game are played on American soil. I'm simply eager to play some tennis."

World number two Djokovic, who lost Wimbledon last to Carlos Alcaraz last month, is hoping to catch his third Huge home run title of the time at the Aug. 28-Sept. 10 U.S. Open. The 2021 New York is next in line kept going contended on hardcourts in Spring and said it was too soon to rate his structure on a superficial level after a corroded first match back.

"A few up-sides, a few negatives. Be that as it may, by the day's end, it's normal. First, match returning," said Djokovic, who will meet individual veteran Gael Monfils next. "It'll presumably take a couple of sets for me to truly get things moving in a correct manner."

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