Novak Djokovic and family looking to buy Serbia Open with hopes of boosting ATP status

Novak Djokovic has revealed his desire to buy back the licence for the Serbia Open while competing in his home tournament this week. The world No 1's family owned the licence for three years and have recently leased it back, with the ATP 250 event held at the Serb's Novak Tennis Centre in Belgrade with his brother Djordje as the tournament director. Djokovic is now hoping the event will get a boost and be worth more ranking points in coming years.

Djokovic is playing just his third tournament of the year at the Serbia Open after going 2-2 in wins and losses so far this season, and is hoping to get some more matches under his belt in a home environment at his Novak Tennis Centre. But there are also other things on the top seed's mind this week, as he shared his plans for his family to repurchase the tournament's licence after letting it go 10 years ago.

The Djokovic family owned the licence from 2009 to 2012, and last year the ATP 250 event finally returned to Serbia after the family leased it back following financial struggles for tour events during the pandemic. In 2021 there were two editions of the tournament held - Belgrade 1 and Belgrade 2 - with the event resuming as a normal one week-only affair this year.

As the 20-time Major champion set his sights on repurchasing the licence to keep tennis in his home city of Belgrade, he also revealed he was hoping the event would receive a boost and be upgraded to ATP 500 status. "In terms of the category upgrades. First of all, we are not the owners of this licence, we are leasing the licence," the 34-year-old said ahead of his opening match against Laslo Djere.

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"We do have the intention to propose and