Indian Wells – Novak Djokovic will not play in the ATP tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami.
The former world number one tennis player justified this decision by saying that the US health authority CDC did not change its rules for entry and thus he could not compete in the two events. The Serb had declared in a BBC interview in mid-February that he was still not vaccinated against the corona virus.
He was seeded number two in the tableau of the top-ranked event at Indian Wells. The withdrawal now moves Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov into the seedings. The day before, the organisers of the Masters 1000 tournament, where Tommy Haas is the tournament director, had announced that they were in contact with Djokovic’s team and that it was unclear whether the Serb would be able to enter the USA. The 34-year-old said he wished the participants in the tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami good luck.
Djokovic had been expelled from the country at the beginning of the year shortly before the start of the Australian Open and was therefore unable to defend his title in Melbourne. The long-time world number one had travelled to Australia on the assumption that he had an exemption permit to enter the country. However, a federal court had decided otherwise. Djokovic has played his only tournament so far this year in Dubai. There, only a negative PCR test was required for participation, but no vaccination against the coronavirus.