Novak Djokovic to overlook Miami Open as U.S. denies entry over covid vaccine
However Miami Open match director James Blake mentioned that whereas they’d tried to safe entry for the 35-year-old Serbian star, “that wasn’t able to happen.”
“We run one of the premier tournaments in the world. We’d like to have the best players that can play … And we did all we could, tried to talk to the government, but that’s out of our hands,” Blake informed Tennis Channel on Friday.
“We’d love to have him, and he’s our greatest champion. He’s won six times here … But unfortunately, that’s way above my pay grade,” he added.
Match officers in Indian Wells, Calif., additionally mentioned Djokovic had withdrawn earlier this month.
Politicians together with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) have lately urged President Biden to exempt the top-ranked participant so he may compete within the Miami Open, set to happen March 19 to April 2 in Miami Gardens, Fla. Florida’s two Republican senators had additionally requested Biden to simply accept the request for a vaccine waiver.
Officers on the U.S. Open, the nation’s Grand Slam occasion, had expressed help for Djokovic, tweeting that they have been “hopeful that Novak is successful in his petition to enter the country.”
The athlete’s unvaccinated standing amid coronavirus restrictions left him unable to play in final 12 months’s U.S. Open. He was deported from Australia in January final 12 months in a saga that divided his followers and detractors as well being officers globally inspired vaccination to battle the unfold of the lethal virus. A compulsory vaccine requirement didn’t apply for entry to Britain, and Djokovic went on to efficiently defend his males’s singles title at Wimbledon final July.
In interviews final 12 months, Djokovic mentioned he was not a part of the anti-vaccine motion however that he supported the liberty to decide on.
Well being officers say people who find themselves vaccinated and boosted not solely have safety from critical sickness themselves but additionally assist shield the extra susceptible, together with the immunocompromised.
Des Bieler and Cindy Boren contributed to this report.