Novak Djokovic: 'Great to be back but I don't have great expectations'

Novak Djokovic is ready to move on from the controversy surrounding his refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

"It's great to be back on the tour. I miss competing, you know, I miss tournaments, obviously, and still feel motivated to compete with the young guys and trying to challenge them and fight for one of the biggest trophies in our sport" the Serbian tennis star said Sunday on the opening day of the clay-court season at the Monte Carlo Masters in Monaco.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion has played only one tournament so far in 2022, losing to Jiri Vesely in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Championships.

Djokovic could not defend his Australian Open title in January after he was deported from the country for not being inoculated.

More recently, he had to skip tournaments in Indian Wells, California, and Miami because he couldn’t travel to the United States for the same reason.

He has declared that he would not get the vaccine in order to be able to compete.