Novak Djokovic set to lead a strong line-up at Tokyo Olympics tennis event

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Novak Djokovic Davis Cup celebrations

Plenty of star names have pulled out of the Tokyo Olympics, but the man with history pressing on his shoulders will be there as Novak Djokovic is preparing to fly to Japan.

Novak Djokovic had given some hints that he might miss the Olympics after a hectic few weeks that saw him win the French Open and Wimbledon to take his Grand Slam haul to 20.

“I’ll have to think about it,” he said after his Wimbledon win. “Right now, as I said, my plan was always to go to Olympic Games. But right now I’m a little bit divided. It’s kind of 50/50 because of what I heard in the last couple days.

“There will be no fans and I also hear that there’s going to be a lot of restrictions within the Olympic village. Possibly you would not be able to see other athletes perform live.

“I can’t even have my stringer that is very important part of my team. I can’t have a stringer. We will see what we decide to do.”

Yet with the prospect of a clean sweep of major titles in 2021 and the Olympic gold medal also up for grabs, Djokovic confirmed he will be heading to Tokyo in a video message with a Japanese fan.

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams are among the star names missing the Olympics, but the men’s draw looks set to be loaded with big names stars despite a host of withdrawls in recent days.

World No.2 Daniil Medvedev is set to play for Russia, with ATP ranked No.5 Stefanos Tsitsipas and Germany’s Alexander Zverev also set to compete.

In the women’s draw, home favourite Naomi Osaka makes her return to action, while world No.1 and newly crowned Wimbledon champion Ashleigh Barty is also set to play.

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