Novak Djokovic is not competing at the US Open in the United States right now, but rather back home in Belgrade, where he attended a wine-tasting event.
The 2022 season won’t have a fairy-tale ending for Djokovic because he won’t be playing at the US Open. While the Serbian held out hope that something would happen to allow him to enter the country, it didn’t.
No exemption came, and the rules weren't changed, which meant that he, as an unvaccinated individual, could not enter the country legally, which forced him to stay home and watch the event on TV.
But he might be actually disinterested in doing that, as Djokovic actually stepped out to attend an event. The Serbian attended a wine-tasting event back home in Belgrade which was also attended by a number of high-profile individuals.
One of those was the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Dimitar Kovacevski. After meeting him, the Prime Minister praised Djokovic on social media, explaining that Djokovic has a passion for wine, which rivals his passion for tennis.
The Djokovic family owns its own winery, and they talked about that, including some good old Macedonian wine. The Prime Minister shared that on his social media profile, mentioning that 'Good wine connects people.'
"The world tennis ace Novak Djokovic, besides his love for tennis, has another passion, and that is wine. The Djokovic family has its own winery and today we were happy to talk about Macedonian wine, which he knows well. Good wine connects people."
Accompanying the post was a picture of the Prime Minister with Djokovic, showing the Serbian smiling and in high spirits. He would have likely preferred to be in New York, but this time around, he had to settle for some wine.
The Serbian player will make his return in the coming weeks, possibly at one of the indoor events ahead of the Paris Masters.
Светскиот тениски ас @DjokerNole, покрај љубовта кон тенисот има уште една пасија, а тоа е виното. Семејството Ѓоковиќ има своја винарија и денес со задоволство поразговаравме за македонското вино кое добро го познава. Убавото вино ги поврзува луѓето.
