Novak Djokovic will not be taking part in next week’s Miami Open, with tournament director James Blake saying organisers’ efforts to overturn the ban on the unvaccinated star proved fruitless.
Under current rules, the world’s #1 tennis player isn’t allowed to enter the United States.
Those restrictions are due to end in April, and the Serbian had hoped to gain special dispensation to play in the US this month at Indian Wells and the Miami Open.
He had to withdraw from the former having not been able to secure that permission, and Blake has now confirmed Djokovic has also failed in his bid to feature at the Miami tournament.
“We’re one of the premier tournaments in the world, we’d like to have the best players that can play,” Blake said in an interview with the Tennis Channel.
“We did all that we could. We tried to talk to the government, but that’s out of our hands. We tried, and he wasn’t able to play.
“Same result that he had in Indian Wells, where I know (fellow tournament director) Tommy Haas did as much as he could.
‘We tried … to get an exemption’
“We tried to get Novak Djokovic to be allowed to get an exemption, but that wasn’t able to happen.
“We’d love to have him, and he’s our greatest champion, he’s won six times here. Unfortunately, that’s way above my pay grade.”
Djokovic’s opposition to being vaccinated resulted in him missing six significant tournaments last season, including the Australian Open and US Open.
With a COVID vaccination no longer required to enter Australia, he competed in this year’s Australian Open in January, claiming a 22nd grand slam singles title.
The 35-year-old, who last week suffered a first defeat of the season to Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals of the ATP event in Dubai, is set to return to action on clay at the Monte Carlo Masters beginning on April 9.
-AAP
