New Delhi [India], Aug 13 (ANI): World number one Novak Djokovic on Thursday confirmed that he would be participating in the upcoming US Open.

Djokovic said that making this decision was not easy, but in the end, he has announced to compete in a major Grand Slam.

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"I'm happy to confirm that I'll participate at #CincyTennis and #USOpen this year. It was not an easy decision to make with all the obstacles and challenges on many sides, but the prospect of competing again makes me really excited," Djokovic tweeted.

Earlier, defending champion Rafael Nadal had announced that he would not be participating in the US Open as he opted not to travel. Australian Nick Kyrgios has also opted to not take part in the upcoming US Open.

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The world number two Nadal had also criticised the revised calendar for tennis and labelled it as "barbaric".

"After many thoughts, I have decided not to play this year's US Open. The situation is very complicated worldwide, the COVID-19 cases are increasing, it looks like we still don't have control of it," Nadal had said in a tweet.

The US Open in New York will be followed by the French Open a fortnight later, and maybe this is the reason, Nadal went on to criticise the revised tennis calendar.

"This is a decision I never wanted to take but I have decided to follow my heart this time and for the time being I rather not travel," Nadal added.

Roger Federer will also not be a part of this year's Grand Slams as he continues to recover from an injury.

As a result, this US Open will be the first since 1999, that neither player has featured in the main draw of a Grand Slam event.

Earlier, it was announced that US Open will be played from August 31-September 13 this year. The matches will be played behind closed doors and New York governor Andrew Cuomo had assured that robust testing will be conducted so that the tournament goes ahead smoothly.

In June this year, Djokovic had contracted coronavirus. His wife, Jelena, had also been diagnosed with the virus while their children tested negative for COVID-19.

He had become the second player to test positive for COVID-19 after Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov. Both the tennis stars had taken part in the charity tennis tournament organised by Djokovic.

The charity tennis tournament, known as Adria Tour, was heavily criticised from all around the corners for going ahead during a pandemic. The final of the Adria Tour in Zadar was cancelled after Dimitrov tested positive for coronavirus. (ANI)

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