UCLA Is Hosting World-Renowned Tennis Champion Novak Djokovic

Tennis champion Novak Djokovic is practicing on the UCLA campus at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. Djokovic was practicing on campus on Wednesday ahead of the BNP Paribas Indian Wells Open, which begins on March 8 in the Palm Springs area.

This will be Djokovic's return to the Indian Wells tournament in five years, for the first time since 2019. Since Djokovic chose not to get vaccinated for COVID-19, he was unable to attend several meets since the pandemic began, due to COVID-19 restrictions.

With the news of Djokovic on campus, plenty of UCLA students filed into the tennis stadium to watch Djokovic practice. The tennis stadium is a common walkway for students walking to and from campus to their dorms or apartments, so it's not surprising to see that many discovered Djokovic was on campus and decided to watch.

Following his practice, fans even swarmed Djokovic on the UCLA tennis courts, hoping to snap a picture or get an autograph, via Jack Nelson of the Daily Bruin.

Chaos at the LATC, where a few fans stepping onto to the court for autographs quickly became a mob around Djokovic following the end of his practice session.

The first court storming I've seen in my many years covering #UCLA tennis. pic.twitter.com/MqLOGXXMnh
— Jack Nelson (@NelsonsNoggin) February 28, 2024

The 24-time Grand Slam champion is the No. 1 ranked tennis player in the 2024 ATP rankings. The 36-year-old Djokovic is considered by several to be the greatest men's tennis player of all time and holds the record for most Grand Slam titles among male tennis players.