US Open: Novak Djokovic - The next chaos is imminent
The draw for the US Open will take place on Thursday. It is not yet clear whether the nameNovak Djokovic will also be used for this. The next chaos is imminent.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit:
Aug 24, 2022, 07:28 am
Alexander Zverev showed how it can work: Even before the draw for the qualification, the second in the world rankings canceled his participation in the US Open. What was undoubtedly a painful decision for the German turned out to be a stroke of luck for Stefan Kozlov and Michael Geerts. While Kozlov saved himself from qualifying thanks to Zverev's early cancellation, Geerts was given the opportunity to qualify for the main draw via the preliminary round.
The situation with Novak Djokovic is of course a little different than with Zverev, as the unvaccinated Serb is still hoping for a last-minute entry permit to the USA. The hope of the long-standing world number one is not entirely unjustified: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently advised that vaccinated and unvaccinated people in the USA should be treated equally. In terms of entry requirements for foreign citizens, there should also be some relief for the time being. It is currently difficult to estimate whether these will come into force for Djokovic in good time.
Tableau could be jumbled
Exactly in this circumstance lies the crux for the organizers: If Djokovic does not cancel before the draw on Thursday, the name of the 35-year-old would naturally appear in the individual draw. Which would shake up the tableau in the event of a subsequent cancellation.
This year's Australian Open showed how big the impact of a late withdrawal can be. Djokovic initially led the tableau as the world number one, but was then not allowed to serve in Melbourne for known reasons . Which suddenly put Italian Salvatore Caruso at the top of the grid.
Is Djokovic waiting until the last minute?
This created a major imbalance in the tableau, for example Matteo Berrettini's route to the semi-finals was made significantly easier. After Djokovic's cancellation, other players had a much more difficult path ahead of them than originally planned.
Of course, Djokovic cannot be accused of waiting until the last minute for the green light to take part in New York. Especially since there is a lot at stake for the 35-year-old in terms of the eternal Grand Slam leaderboard. However, it remains to be feared that an imbalance will arise again in the tableau. Which would give the last Grand Slam show of the year a little taste even before the start of the tournament.