Novak Djokovic wasted little time following his arrival in the United States and was pictured practicing there for the first time since the summer of 2021.
Djokovic is preparing to play at next week's Cincinnati Masters, a tournament he won in 2018 to complete a Career Golden Masters and then added a second Western & Southern Open title in 2020 when the event was staged in New York. He is the only player to accomplish this feat of winning each of the nine Masters tournaments at least once.
The Serbian star, however, was unable to travel to North America for refusing to take the Covid-19 vaccine, missing high-profile Masters tournaments in Canada and USA including the 2022 US Open. Those restrictions were lifted earlier this year, allowing unvaccinated foreign travelers to enter the country.
Djokovic chose to give the Canadian Open amiss this week, citing the need to rest after a physically and emotionally draining couple of months on clay and grass. But he has returned to Mason, Ohio, where he has signed up for both the singles and doubles draw.
Djokovic was last seen on the practice courts in neighboring Montenegro, where he had been vacationing after his Wimbledon final loss to Carlos Alcaraz. Last night he finally made it to Cincinnati where he put in an intense workout under the gazing eyes of his coach Goran Ivanisevic.
Djokovic worked on his serve and ground strokes with hitting partner Carlos Gomez-Herrera, a former ATP pro who joined the Serbian's team earlier this year, and who Djokovic said contributed 'both logistically and analytically'.
It was an open practice session with fans allowed inside the stadium and would get the chance to take pictures with Djokovic after the hit. Djokovic also stayed to sign some autographs. Seeded at No. 2, Djokovic could start his campaign on Wednesday against either Tomas Martin Etcheverry or in-form Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
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