After his noisy expulsion from Australia, tennis star Novak Djokovic is aiming for his comeback in February at the ATP tournament in Dubai.
The world number one from Serbia is on the entry list for the 500 tournament (February 21 to 26), which he has already won five times.
In Dubai, a corona vaccination is not mandatory for entry.
Djokovic had missed the current Australian Open after a defeat in a federal court.
The judges had rejected the objection of the world number one against the cancellation of his visa.
The 20-time Grand Slam winner was unvaccinated and entered the country with a medical exemption.
What Djokovic's season planning looks like after the tournament in Dubai is still completely open.
A corona vaccination is a prerequisite for traveling to the Masters tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami.
Meanwhile, world-class Greek tennis player Stefanos Tsitsipas is in the semifinals of the Australian Open for the third time. The French Open finalist won his quarter-finals in Melbourne on Wednesday against the Italian talent Jannik Sinner 6: 3, 6: 4, 6: 2. On Friday, the fourth in the world rankings can reach the final for the first time against the Russian US Open champion Daniil Medvedev or the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime. The other semi-final will be contested by 20-time Grand Slam tournament winner Rafael Nadal from Spain and Italian Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini.
A good 15 months after her French Open coup, the Polish tennis player Iga Swiatek made it into the semifinals at the Australian Open for the first time.
In a hard-fought quarter-final, the 20-year-old top ten player beat outsider Kaia Kanepi from Estonia 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3.
In the semi-finals on Thursday, Swiatek will meet American Danielle Collins, who is 27th.
The world number 115.
Kanepi defeated Angelique Kerber from Kiel in the first round of the Grand Slam tournament and surprised her by jumping into the top eight.