Unvaccinated Djokovic out of US Open; cannot journey to States

NEW YORK

Novak Djokovic is not going to play within the US Open, as anticipated, as a result of he’s not vaccinated towards COVID-19 and thus isn’t allowed to journey to the USA.

Djokovic introduced his withdrawal from the yr’s final Grand Slam event on Twitter on Thursday, hours earlier than the draw for the occasion was revealed.

“Sadly, I will be unable to journey to NY this time for the US Open,” Djokovic wrote, wishing luck to his fellow gamers, and mentioned he would “hold in good condition and optimistic spirit and anticipate a chance to compete once more. “

Play is scheduled to start at Flushing Meadows on Monday.

Djokovic is a 35-year-old from Serbia who owns 21 main championships, one behind Rafael Nadal for the boys’s document. Three of Djokovic’s Slam trophies got here on the US Open, in 2011, 2015 and 2018.

He additionally was the runner-up there a half-dozen instances, together with final season, when his pursuit of the primary calendar-year Grand Slam in males’s tennis since 1969 ended with a loss within the closing to Daniil Medvedev.

International residents who haven’t been vaccinated towards COVID-19 are at present unable to enter the US or Canada, and Djokovic has mentioned he will not get the pictures, even when that stops him from enjoying in sure tournaments.

The US Tennis Affiliation has mentioned all alongside it’ll observe authorities guidelines about vaccination standing for this yr’s Open. There is no such thing as a vaccine mandate on the event for gamers or their assist groups — that means that an unvaccinated American can be allowed to compete — and spectators is not going to be required to put on masks.

“Novak is a good champion and it is extremely unlucky that he can be unable to compete on the 2022 US Open, as he’s unable to enter the nation as a result of federal authorities’s vaccination coverage for non-US residents,” mentioned Stacey Allaster, the US Open event director. “We stay up for welcoming Novak again on the 2023 US Open.”

Djokovic missed the Australian Open in January after a protracted authorized saga ended along with his deportation from that nation as a result of he is not vaccinated towards COVID-19. He additionally sat out 4 vital tournaments in North America in 2022, together with in Montreal and Cincinnati lately.

He did play within the French Open, the place he misplaced within the quarterfinals to Nadal, and at Wimbledon, the place Djokovic gained the title.

After beating Nick Kyrgios within the Wimbledon closing on July 10, Djokovic mentioned he “would love” to take part within the final Grand Slam event of the yr at Flushing Meadows, however he additionally acknowledged, “I am not planning to get vaccinated.”

About three weeks later, Djokovic posted on social media that he was holding out hope of getting the prospect to play within the US Open, writing: “I’m getting ready as if I can be allowed to compete, whereas I await to listen to if there’s any room for me to journey to US. Fingers crossed!”

Djokovic has spent extra weeks at No. 1 than anybody else within the historical past of the ATP rankings. He’s No. 6 this week, partially as a result of no rankings factors have been awarded at Wimbledon this yr.

Among the many different gamers who is not going to be on the US Open for varied causes are No. 2-ranked Alexander Zverev, the 2020 runner-up in New York; 2016 champion Angelique Kerber; 2019 French Open finalist Marketa Vondrousova; Gael Monfils and Reilly Opelka.

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Extra AP protection of US Open tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/us-open-tennis-championships and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports