In an interview with Il Tennis Italiano, Riccardo Piatti spent some nice words for Novak Djokovic. Piatti explained: “If I can make a wish under the Christmas tree, I would love to see Novak Djokovic play and win all four Grand Slams in 2023.
Nole may or may not like him, but he’s among the big three, with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, is the one who deserves more than achieving the Calendar Grand Slam. In the second half of the season he was unstoppable, and he proved that he is still the man to beat.
I take this opportunity to say that I am very happy with the way things have gone at the ATP Finals in Turin.”
Djokovic at the 2023 Australian Open
Djokovic will start his 2023 by playing the ATP 250 in Adelaide, and then go hunting for his tenth seal at Melbourne Park.
The main pitfalls for Nole are represented by Rafa Nadal, Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz. A possible triumph Down Under would project Novak to 22 Grand Slams. Novak Djokovic’s 2022 was heavily conditioned by his choice not to get vaccinated against the Coronavirus.
The Serbian phenomenon had to give up the Australian Open and the US Open, as well as having suffered serious image damage. For the same reason, the former world number 1 missed all the American Masters 1000 (Indian Wells, Miami, Montreal and Cincinnati).
The best Nole has been seen since Wimbledon, where he took his fourth title in a row. In addition to having equaled his idol Pete Sampras with seven hits at Church Road, the 35-year-old from Belgrade has moved just one length clear of Rafael Nadal in the all-time Grand Slam rankings.
Nole embellished his season by also winning the ATP Finals of Turin, the Internazionali BNL of Italy, the ATP 500 of Astana and the ATP 250 of Tel Aviv. Having been cleared to fly to Australia next month, Goran Ivanisevic’s protégé will be the heavy favorite at the 2023 Australian Open.
