ISLAMABAD: After being denied entry to the United States (US), world number one tennis player and Serbian national Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from next week’s Miami Open.
The 35-year-old 22-time Grand Slam winner had requested special permission to enter the United States because he had not been immunised against Covid-19. The US required international visitors to be vaccinated. Djokovic withdrew from the current Indian Wells event for the same reason.
Exemption for Novak Djokovic
Miami Open tournament director James Blake stated, “we are one of the premier tournaments in the world, and we would like to have the best players that can play.” He told the Tennis Channel that they did everything they could. “We attempted to contact the government, but that was out of our hands. We tried, but he couldn’t play.”
He stated he had the same result in Indian Wells, where he knew [fellow tournament director] Tommy Haas did everything he could. They attempted to obtain an exemption for Novak Djokovic but could not do so.
He said that “we would love to have him and that he is our greatest champion, having won six times here. Djokovic of Serbia missed the US Open last year due to a lack of vaccinations. Djokovic, who also missed the Australian Open last year and was deported from the country due to his vaccination status, has stated that he would rather skip Grand Slams than have a Covid-19 vaccination.
Djokovic was allowed to travel to Melbourne in January and won his 10th Australian Open title, tying men’s record of Rafael Nadal of 22 Grand Slam titles. Djokovic lost his first season match last week in the semi-finals of the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships to Daniil Medvedev in straight sets. He will play the Monte Carlo Masters on clay starting on April 9th.
