The Serbian powerhouse team of Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic won’t be participating at the upcoming Hopman Cup 2014 tournament in Perth, Australia. The mixed teams tennis tournament takes place from December 28 to January 4, 2014. The duo were runners up last year and have particiapted in the event three times in the past.
Tournament Director Steve Ayles said that though they’re anticipating their return in the future, their participating in December was already known to be unlikely since Djokovic has commited to the Davis Cup final. Ivanovic will be participating at the Tournament of Champions in Sofia, Bulgaria.
“I know that they believe they have unfinished business and that’s the sort of carrot we will be using and of course when Novak has played here he’s always gone on to play well at the Australian Open,” Ayles said.
“We will always be approaching marquee players to come and play at the Hopman Cup, but the other thing is that we do make sure we have a strong, even field.
“It’s actually the Australians that are the main drawcards for the event so we have Bernard and Sam, and then when you throw in (Agnieszka) Radwanska, (Jo-Wilfried) Tsonga and (Petra) Kvitova then the strength in this field is going to make it hard to pick a winner.”
The Australian team will be composed of Bernard Tomic and Samantha Stosur. In compliance with the ITF decision, Tomic’s father, John, is banned from attending the event.
“Ultimately it’s a decision for the ITF because this is an ITF-sanctioned event,” Ayles said.
“Certainly that is the Australian Open’s view and normally with these things the governing bodies fall in line so at this stage I would say that is a likely outcome.”
