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The United States opens the door to Djokovic

Novak Djokovic celebrates a victory in the US Open. / afp

Grand Slam

The Biden government will allow access to the country without a vaccine and the Serbian tennis player will thus be able to play the US Open if the tournament admits him

«If they give me permission I will be and if not, I will not be. It’s not the end of the world”. The quote is from Novak Djokovic a month ago and was referring to his participation in the US Open, the last Grand Slam of the season. Since June, the United States required the complete vaccination schedule against the coronavirus to access its borders. Until yesterday. The North American Center for Disease Control announced that the vaccinated and unvaccinated population will have the same guidelines for action in the country. In this way, the door is opened for the Serbian to play in the New York tournament.

Djokovic’s participation in Flushing Meadows is not entirely certain. The player is waiting for the tournament organization to include him in the draw. Although a year ago the Balkan tennis player was able to participate since the United States did not require to be protected against the coronavirus, it is to be assumed that, once the veto is lifted, the United States Open will not allow itself the luxury of rejecting the intervention of the champion of Wimbledon. Just in case, Djokovic signed up a month ago for the dispute of the last great of the year, which, if conquered, would match him again with Rafa Nadal at the top with 22 wounds. It was then that a statement from the US Open ruled out any possibility of the current world number six receiving a medical exemption to compete. “We will respect the position of the United States government regarding travel to the country by non-vaccinated non-US citizens,” was the tournament announcement. A denial of Djokovic would cause a tsunami similar to the one that occurred in January in Australia, when he was deported from the oceanic country after being held for four days in an immigration center in Melbourne. The Serbian, then number one in the world, became a national hero and divided public opinion between those reluctant to get vaccinated and those who opted for the injection as the main way to stop the epidemic.

little filming

Three-time winner of the Arthur Ashe and finalist of the last edition (Medvedev deprived him of completing the Grand Slam after having won the previous three), Djokovic has not stopped training, trusting in the remote possibilities he had of playing the end of the tour american. He has already missed the Masters 1,000 in Montreal that is taking place these days because Canada also prohibits the entry of unvaccinated travelers, but he signed up for Cincinnati, a tournament of the same category that takes place next week. Despite the lifting of the ban by the Biden administration, finally the one from Belgrade will not be in Ohio because the bureaucratic procedures do not arrive on time. In this way, Djokovic would arrive at the US Open (starts on August 29) lacking competitive rhythm and without official matches in his legs. His last commitment was on July 10 precisely the Wimbledon final in which he defeated Nick Kyrgios in four sets. He has only played 29 games this year. He also won in Rome.

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