Novak Djokovic Denied Entry To USA Ahead Of Miami Open Over COVID-19 Vaccination Status
Miami Open Director James Blake has confirmed that Djokovic was denied an exemption.
Novak Djokovic, World number 1 men's singles tennis star, has been denied entry to the United States, implying he won't be able to take part in the Miami Open. The decision has been taken owing to his unvaccinated status against COVID-19. Notably, the Serbian was hoping to get an exemption to participate in this competition but was denied that as has been confirmed by the tournament director James Blake.
"We tried to get Novak Djokovic to be allowed to get an exemption, but that wasn't able to happen," Blake told Tennis Channel.
"Obviously, we're one of the premier tournaments in the world, we'd like to have the best players that can play. We did all that we could. We tried to talk to the government, but that's out of our hands," he added.
Djokovic also missed Australian Open 2022, Indian Wells due to unvaccinated status
This is not the only tournament that the 35-year-old will miss due to his unvaccinated status against COVID-19. Not only did the 22-time Grand Slam winner had to miss the ongoing Masters tournament in Indian Wells, California but he had earlier also had to miss the Australian Open for his firm take against vaccination. He was deported from Australia before the start of the first Grand Slam of the year in 2022.
It is worth highlighting that currently the United States does not allow any foreigner who is not vaccinated to enter in the country. However, this policy is likely to be lifted when the government ends its COVID-19 protocols on May 11.
However, Djokovic is not too perturbed and has said that he would rather miss tournaments of the stature of a Grand Slam than get vaccinated. It is further being learnt that the Serbian tennis ace is now planning to return to the tour at the Monte Carlo Masters claycourt competition that is scheduled to commence on April 9.
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