Will the 2023 season see Novak Djokovic achieve the Calendar Grand Slam? The quest for records pegged to the body, the Serb could once again be in a position to conquer the ultimate Grail of world tennis: winning the four major tournaments in a calendar year.
Even if the road is still long, the world number one – who had failed in this quest in 2021 – has in any case found reasons to hope, after the announcement of President Joe Biden, Monday January 30, to end, from May 11, to the state of health emergency in force in the United States for almost three years.
The 35-year-old will therefore be able to play in the next edition of the US Open, the last Grand Slam tournament which was refused to him because of his status as not vaccinated against Covid-19. The United States is thus following in the footsteps of Australia, which was the first country to open its borders to it, allowing a return to normal on the circuit. In 2022, deprived of the Australian Open, the Belgradois had only been able to play Roland-Garros and Wimbledon.
After winning a tenth Australian Open on Sunday January 29 and joining Rafael Nadal as the player with the most Grand Slam titles (22), the good news keeps coming for the circuit boss, who has regained his number one spot. a world Monday.
But this leading position could soon be threatened: the lifting of the state of emergency in the United States not being effective until May 11, he will not be allowed to compete in the Indian Wells Masters 1000. (March 6-19) and Miami (March 20-April 2). In the event of performances by the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz or the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas during the American tour in March, he could abandon his chair to them.