Lack of match play a concern for Djokovic

DUBAI • The freedom to choose is so important to Novak Djokovic that he is prepared to miss out on trophies owing to vaccine mandates.

However, the Serb has admitted his lack of match play can be a concern moving forward, as uncertainty over his tennis schedule looms ahead due to his inability to enter many tournaments without being vaccinated against Covid-19.

He fell 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) in the ATP Dubai quarter-finals on Thursday to Czech world No. 123 Jiri Vesely and as a result, lost the world No. 1 ranking he had held for two years to Russia's Daniil Medvedev.

Djokovic, competing in his first tournament of the season after being deported from Australia last month, gave credit to his opponent, who consistently put pressure on him.

However, he added: "I'm lacking a little bit of the match play. You can see that; I'm still finding the groove on the court."

The 34-year-old conceded that not being able to recapture the rhythm of matches because his unvaccinated status could prevent him from competing regularly was an issue.

"It is. The more matches I play, the more comfortable I get on the court," said Djokovic, who currently cannot enter the United States for next month's Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami.

"I need the match play. I didn't have many matches at all last few months. Let's see. Obviously, I'll have to follow the situation, see how it goes. Wherever I get an opportunity to play, I will."

His record 361-week reign at the summit of the rankings will come to an official end on Monday, when it is updated. But the 20-time Grand Slam champion insisted he was still motivated to keep fighting for the biggest titles in the sport despite the furore over his refusal to get inoculated.

"My goal is to keep on playing tennis. For as long as I really feel like it, and as long as I can play, as long as my body allows me, as long as the circumstances in my life as well," said Djokovic.

"Of course I'm still motivated and I'm still p***** off when I lose a match. I care about it. I care about winning every match, as anybody else on the Tour, regardless of the age.

"I'm actually glad that I'm feeling a lot of emotions every single day because it means that I really want to be part of this sport, part of the tour."

Separately, world No. 3 Alexander Zverev, who was thrown out of the Mexican Open in Acapulco earlier this week after repeatedly smashing his racket against the umpire's chair, was fined US$40,000 (S$54,200) by the ATP on Thursday.

The Olympic gold medallist was fined US$20,000 for verbal abuse and US$20,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct.

"This represents the maximum fine per violation," the ATP said, noting that Zverev would also forfeit his prize money of US$31,570 he would have earned from both his singles and doubles matches and all ATP ranking points from the tournament.

"A further review will now follow."

The German has apologised for his actions, which have drawn criticism from his peers.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE