"Good wine connects people" - Novak Djokovic meets with the Prime Ministers of North Macedonia and Montenegro during wine-tasting event in his hometown

Novak Djokovic, denied entry into the 2022 US Open due to his unvaccinated status, continued his enjoyment of life regardless, this time attending a wine-tasting event in his hometown of Belgrade.

During the event, he got to rub shoulders with several high-profile celebrity wine aficionados, including the Prime Minister of North Macedonia Dimitar Kovacevski. Taking to Twitter soon after, Kovacevski was all praise for the Serb, mentioning how passionate the 21-time Grand Slam champion is about wine.

Kovacevski even revealed that the tennis legend and his family have their own winery, and was glad to connect with him during the event.

"The world tennis ace Novak Djokovic, besides his love for tennis, has another passion, and that is wine. The Djokovic family has its own winery and today we were happy to talk about Macedonian wine, which he knows well. Good wine connects people," said the North Macedonian Prime Minister.

Dritan Abazovic, the Prime Minister of Montenegro, was also present at the event and took to social media afterwards as well to share a video of the former World No. 1 acting as a wine presenter during the function.

"Meeting with the world legend and one of the greatest athletes Novak Djokovic, in his today's role of wine presenter," said the Montenegro Prime Minister.

"I think in the end he is the best tennis player in the world and he would be the clear favorite to win the US Open, if he had been allowed to play" - Taylor Fritz on Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic during the basketball friendly between Slovenia v Serbia - Basketball Friendly

Among the many players who expressed their thoughts on Novak Djokovic being denied entry into the 2022 US Open, American No.1 Taylor Fritz regarded the Serb as the best player in the world and revealed that he would have been the clear favorite at the tournament had he competed.

"I think in the end he is the best tennis player in the world and he would be the clear favorite to win the US Open, if he had been allowed to play. Without him, there is a very high and widespread chance for everyone to win," said Fritz in a recent interview with Forbes.

Taylor had mentioned earlier that only the 'Big 4' of Federer, Nadal, Murray and Djokovic could win the big titles in the past, but that the times have changed and that the field is more open now.

"I think the Americans can compete for the Grand Slam right now. I think there was a long time where it was basically Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray who played these titles, a stage where one of those guys would always win. I think times are changing a bit now, there is no one who is overly dominant at the moment, so I feel that anyone out of about 10 players could win the tournament." said Fritz.

Unfortunately, Fritz himself will have to wait to lift his maiden Grand Slam title as he crashed out of the first round at Flushing Meadows, losing to qualifier Brandon Holt.