Another setback for Novak Djokovic: he was left out of the Indian Wells and Miami Masters for not being vaccinated

This 2022 will be remembered for great events and many changes in the world of sports. And one of them, without a doubt, was that Novak Djokovic ceased to be the best racket in the men’s professional tennis circuit. Is that after losing to Jiří Veselý 6-4 and 7-6 (4) in the quarterfinals of the ATP 500 in Dubai, the Serbian fell to second place in the ATP ranking ladder.

That was how, after 362 weeks as leader of the positionsa record number for Nole in history even above other stars of the modern era such as Roger Federer (310) and Rafael Nadal (209), Djokovic said goodbye to the number 1 that he left in the hands of the Russian Daniil Medvedev.

In the last hours, the tennis player who was involved in a scandal at the beginning of the year with his deportation from Australia that prevented him from participating in the first Grand Slam of the year for not being vaccinated against the coronavirus, suffered a new setback in his planning for the season: he announced that for the same reason will not be able to participate in the next two Masters to be played in the United States, in Indian Wells (March 7 to 20) and Miami (March 21 to April 3).

“While I was automatically included in the @BNPPARIBASOPEN and @MiamiAbierto field I knew it would be unlikely that I would be able to travel. The CDC has confirmed that the regulations will not change, so I will not be able to play in the US. Good luck to those who play in these big tournaments,” Djokovic said in a message he shared on his Twitter account.

This way, The Serbian tennis player will continue to stay away from the circuit and now he will miss one of the most relevant tournaments such as Indian Wells, considered the fifth Grand Slam and that he won five times in 2008, 2011 and three in a row between 2014 and 2016. Given the loss of these two hard surface competitions, the Belgrade-born will try to participate in the European clay court tour that begins in April with the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 and ending at Roland Garros.

It is important to remember that Nole was able to participate in the event in Dubai since a coronavirus vaccine was not mandatory to enter the United Arab Emirates. In any case, the Serbian did not rule out complying with the vaccination so as not to be vetoed from the most important competitions, putting his season at risk. “I have an open mind… Everything is possible in life, we will see how the situation evolves, but for the moment I have decided not to do it,” he said a few weeks ago, in an interview in which he had accepted that “I missed playing to tennis after everything that happened”.

Beyond these statements, he also made his position regarding vaccination against COVID-19 clear in an interview he gave to the BBC. When asked if he would sacrifice tournaments like Wimbledon or Roland Garros, the tennis player replied: “Yes, that is the price I am willing to pay”.

“I was really sad and disappointed with the way it all ended for me in Australia. It was not easy”, added the Serbian tennis player. Immediately afterwards, he clarified that the failure in his declaration upon arrival in the country of Oceania was not on purpose. “Absolutely, the visa declaration error was not made deliberately,” Djokovic explained. “It was accepted and confirmed by the Federal Court and the minister himself at the Australian Ministry of Immigration.”

the bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov he will take Djokovic’s place in the draw as the next seed in a tournament that will see Russia’s Medvedev as the top seed.

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