Novak Djokovic will miss the Miami and Indian Wells tournaments for not being vaccinated against Covid-19
In January of this year, the Serbian tennis player was unable to defend his title at the Australian Open as he was not immunized and was even deported from the oceanic country
The Serbian tennis player, Novak Djokovic, will miss the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, in Miami and Indian Wells, to be played in the United States, for not being vaccinated against Covid-19.
This was announced by the number 2 in the world himself, who through his Twitter account indicated that although he automatically appeared in the draws, he could not participate, since the regulations of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC by its acronym in English) stipulate that to enter North American territory you must be vaccinated against Sars-Cov-2.
I also wish luck to everyone who will play these tournaments, which he has won more than 10 times together.
For their part, the organizers of Indian Wells confirmed that "Nole" will not be participating in the tournament, which began on March 7 until March 20.
Additionally, they reported that the Bulgarian tennis player, Grigor Dimitrov, will take the place of Djokovic.
In the case of the Miami Open, to be played from March 21 to April 3, they did not comment on it.
Djokovic and the Australian Open
This is not the first time that the 34-year-old tennis player, born in Belgrade, has seen his participation in a tournament affected, due to his refusal to apply the Covid-19 vaccine.
In January 2022, the Serbian traveled to Melbourne to defend his title at the Australian Open, which he had held since 2019; however, he was involved in a legal scandal by entering without being vaccinated, thanks to a medical extension for having contracted the virus before the tournament began.
As a result of his decision, his visa was suspended a second time and he was deported from Australia. Now the former number one in the world may never set foot on the Rod Laver Arena again since according to Australian law he can be banned from entering the country for three years.
It should be noted that Nole He has been the tennis player who has won the Australian Open the most times, adding nine (9) trophies.
Djokovic's refusal to be vaccinated against Covid-19
Since the start of the pandemic, the tennis player has remained firm in his decision not to get vaccinated against Covid-19.
In June 2020, he held several exhibition matches in Croatia and Serbia, without complying with the safety protocols against the coronavirus. As a result, several tennis players, including Novak himself, caught the virus.
In an interview offered by the Serbian after the scandal in Australia, the tennis player was asked if he would be able to sacrifice his participation in the Roland Garros (France) and Wimbledon (England) tournaments, to which he replied that "it is the price that is willing to pay."
However, he also mentioned that "I have an open mind... Everything is possible in life." In addition, he added that he will see how the situation evolves, but that for the moment he has decided not to get vaccinated.
During this 2022 season, Djokovic has only played the Dubai Open, belonging to the ATP Tour 500 category, where he fell in the quarterfinals against the Czech, Jiri Vesely; which caused him to give up first place in the ATP ranking.