An unexpected project has been launched by Tennis Club Sanremo to help Novak Djokovic maintain his form in view of Monte Carlo
Indian Wells is underway, but the world No. 1 has been not allowed to set foot on the courts which are often thrashed by the whirling winds coming from the desert. Save for a last-minute miracle, it is also very unlikely he will be playing in Miami. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has gone to great lengths, calling on President Joe Biden for an exemption to the law which still does not allow foreigners who haven’t had the Covid vaccine to enter the US. DeSantis has said is even eager to run a boat from the Bahamas to get Djokovic into Florida. Yet the US authorities have so far appeared quite adamant.
In his recent interview with Tennis Majors Goran Ivanisevic said that if the ban should be maintained, Novak will focus on his clay campaign, and join the Tour starting from the Rolex Monte Carlo Masters 1000 scheduled from 8th April.
The story bears some resemblance with the season 2022 when, after Dubai, Djokovic did not play any matches until he landed on the Côte d’Azur. On that occasion a shaky physical and mental form resulted in a stark loss to Davidovic Fokina.
This year Djokovic is surely going to arrive in Monte Carlo in cooler and brighter spirits than in 2022, but one point is certain: the Serbian’s agenda is going to be quite free in the next three weeks.
So, what about maintaining form and a crisp match-winning instinct by playing elsewhere? After all tennis is not just played in the US. This is the idea that has spurred Tennis Club Sanremo to invite Novak Djokovic to take part in the ATP Challenger 125 which is scheduled from March 26, while the Miami Open will be in full swing.
Not only Tennis Club Sanremo is relying on Djokovic’s need to play matches but also on the nostalgia effect, an irresistible song call “When we were young”. Indeed in May 2005, just a handful of days before turning 18 he won the 25,000 challenger in Sanremo. “It’s a very important victory for me,” he had said during the trophy presentation “and I thank the organization and the public for their support. This city brings me luck because I achieved one of my greatest victories right here in Sanremo four years ago, in the Under 14 European Championship”.
As well as these two victories, further evidence of Djokovic’s strong bond with Liguria is his relationship with Riccardo Piatti, who coached him for one year when he was 18 and has hosted him various times at his Academy in Bordighera, a stone’s throw away from Sanremo.
This invitation has taken the form of the hashtag NoleComeToSanremo, launched on social media, in the wake of the social phenomenon set up in 2017 by Besiktas footballer Ricardo Quaresma to convince his Portugal team mate Pepe to leave Real Madrid and join him in the Turkish club. The video Come to Besiktas went viral and such cajoling was successful.
In the hashtag the Sanremo Tennis Team also wrote “We still have your trophy. We are waiting for you so as to give it to you, and we hope to see you playing once more on our courts.”
Is this story going to have a movie-like end? Unfortunately this will not happen. Article 7.07 of the ATP Rulebook is clear: Players positioned 1-10 in the ATP Singles Rankings twenty-one days prior to the first Monday of the ATP Challenger Tour tournament are prohibited from entering, accepting a wild card and/or competing in an ATP Challenger Tour tournament.
We cannot help quoting a Latin saying, dura lex, sed lex: the law is harsh, but it is the law.
Yet, it is definitely a pity when yearning and innocuous dreams are impeded from coming true.
