According to world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, the lease for the license is about to expire, so the Serbia Open may not be held the following year. The Hungarian Open, an ATP 250 clay-court tournament held in Budapest from 2017–2019, was approved for relocation to Belgrade in 2021. This was made possible by a lease agreement between license owner Ion Tiriac and new event organizers Tara 2016s, led by the tournament director and Novak’s brother, Djordje Djokovic. The Serbia Open was first held from 2009 to 2012.
The tournament usually has a fantastic attendance, and it’ll be a pity if it cannot be staged in the future. During a recent interview in Dubai with Sport Klub, Novak commented:
“First of all, I must say that the licence is not ours. We leased it from its owner Ion Tiriac and now he wants it back. “We wanted to buy the licence, to host the tournament in Serbia for many years to come, because we were successful – many people in the stands, ATP gave us excellent grades for all the efforts, but there is not much we can do when the owner doesn’t want to sell the licence. We have to respect that.”
Finding new ways to stage the Serbian Open
Djokovic added: ATP“We are now looking into two different alternatives to get the licence. Either to apply with the ATP for the new licence – which is less likely because there are many tournaments as it is – or to negotiate a lease on another licence. Possibly to even buy that licence, but the prices have gone through the roof and most tournaments are profitable, so it is understandable that they don’t want to sell. Our desire is big, so we will see.”
Djokovic in Dubai, ranking, and results in 2023
WLWWWWWWWW Ranked no.1, Djokovic has a compiled 13-0 record in 2023. Novak is currently playing in Dubai where he conquered the world no.130 Tomas Machac 6-3 3-6 7-61.
Novak Djokovic will take on the world no.39 Tallon Griekspoor in the 2nd round on Wednesday at 7:00 pm on CENTRE COURT. Their actual head to head record is 1-0 for Djokovic.
Djokovic conquered 2 titles in 2023 in Adelaide and Australian Open.
The Serbian won 93 titles in his career: 50 on hard courts, 18 on clay courts, 17 on indoor courts and 8 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Djokovic is scheduled to play next in Indian Wells (BNP Paribas Open). He will begin to play the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 8th of March.
