Novak Djokovic gets a big boost as Roland Garros officials confirm he can defend his French Open title

French Open
Novak Djokovic French Open celebrations

Novak Djokovic is set to defend his French Open trophy after Roland Garros officials confirmed that “nothing stands” from competing at this year’s event.

The 20-time Grand Slam winner was unable to defend his Australian Open at the start of the year due to his unvaccinated status as his visa was cancelled for a second time on “health and good order grounds”.

He then made his 2022 debut at the Dubai Tennis Championships before he was denied the chance to compete at the Indian Wells Masters and Miami Open as regulations from the Centers for Disease Control state that unvaccinated people are not allowed entry into the United States.

There were initially doubts over his participation at the French Open after the country adopted strict vaccination rules to combat Covid-19, but those have since been relaxed and Djokovic will be allowed to compete.

“As things stand, nothing stands in the way of Djokovic taking part in the French Open,” Roland Garros Tournament Director Amelie Mauresmo said.

This year’s clay-court Grand Slam will run from May 22 until June 5 and French Tennis Federation (FFT) President Gilles Moretton has warned that things could still change.

“There’s still a virus circulating and we have to be cautious. If things were to happen again and the government would take new measures we would not be excluded from these measures,” he said.

The last two editions of the French Open were hit hard by restrictions, but Moretton is optimistic about ticket sales.

“We started selling tickets on March 8 and 500,000 of the 600,000 have already been sold,” he said.

“Out of the 150,000 tickets for the night sessions, 100,000 have been sold.”

Novak Djokovic

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