Novak Djokovic will miss the upcoming Miami Open tournament after being unable to receive an exemption from an existing U.S. government policy preventing foreign nationals who are unvaccinated against COVID-19 from entering the country. This will mark the second U.S. tournament this year that Djokovic has missed due to the policy along with the ongoing Masters tournament in Indian Wells, Calif.
According to Reuters, the policy barring unvaccinated foreign nationals from entering the U.S. is expected to end May 11, when the government is set to end its COVID-19 emergency declarations.
"We tried to get Novak Djokovic to be allowed to get an exemption, but that wasn't able to happen," Blake told Tennis Channel. "Obviously, we're one of the premier tournaments in the world. We'd like to have the best players that can play. We did all that we could. We tried to talk to the government, but that's out of our hands."
Tournament director @JRBlake talks @DjokerNole's status ahead of the #MiamiOpen 🌴#TCLive pic.twitter.com/rRLKVpS0HT
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) March 17, 2023
Djokovic, who opted to skip Grand Slams instead of receiving a COVID vaccine, has slowly been able to enter tournaments he had previously been barred from as governments and tournaments have dropped vaccine mandates. Djokovic returned to the Australian Open in January, which he won for a record 10th time a year after being deported by Australian authorities over his vaccination status.
Djokovic has declined to comment on not being able to play at Miami and has stated will instead focus on his next tournament at the Monte Carlo Masters.
