'He wants 10' - Novak Djokovic won't want to miss Australian Open, says tournament director Craig Tiley

Updated 25/11/2021 at 16:14 GMT

Novak Djokovic has remained coy over his vaccination status and is yet to confirm whether he will appear at the Australian Open and fight for a 10th title in Melbourne. But tournament director Craig Tiley is convinced that the Serbian world number one will appear in Australia to defend his title, and go for a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam title

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Novak Djokovic will not want to miss out on the chance to break records at the Australian Open, says tournament director Craig Tiley.

Djokovic is yet to confirm whether he will defend his Australian Open title in January after Covid-19 vaccination was made compulsory for the event. The Serbian world number one has remained coy over his vaccination status, and has drawn criticism this year over his attitude towards the pandemic.

But he currently sits on 20 Grand Slams, level alongside Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at the top of the men's rankings, and has a chance to win an incredible 10th title in Melbourne in January.

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And tournament director Tiley believes that will motivate the 34-year-old to make an appearance.

"One of them will surpass the others. I don't think Novak would want to leave that to someone else," said Tiley.

Novak has won nine Australian Opens, I'm sure he wants to get to 10.

Tiley himself is unaware of whether Djokovic has been vaccinated, but said that "between 90-95%" of players will have been immunised ahead of the event, where fans and staff will also be banned if unvaccinated.

Tiley admitted that "one or two players" have been granted exemption for medical reasons and explained that this fell in line with Victoria's state health rules.

"And so it should be, because there shouldn't be any preferential treatment coming into the state compared to what the regular community is going through," he said.

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