Unvaccinated Djokovic says he is out of Indian Wells, Miami [View all]

Source: Associated Press

Unvaccinated Djokovic says he is out of Indian Wells, Miami

By HOWARD FENDRICH
March 9, 2022

Novak Djokovic said that he will not be able to compete at the hard-court tennis tournaments in Indian Wells, California, or Miami because he is unvaccinated and can’t travel to the United States.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion tweeted Wednesday that the Centers for Disease Control “confirmed the regulations won’t be changing so I won’t be able to play in the U.S.”

Djokovic, who recently dropped to No. 2 in the ATP rankings, has played in only one tournament so far in 2022 because he has not received any shots to protect against COVID-19. He was deported from Australia in January and was not allowed to try to defend his title at Melbourne Park.

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Djokovic is a 34-year-old from Serbia who said in April 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic raged, that he was opposed to needing to be vaccinated to travel. In June of that year, with professional tennis on hiatus, he organized a series of exhibition matches in Serbia and Croatia with no rules requiring social distancing or masking — a tour that was called off after some players, including Djokovic, got COVID-19.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/rafael-nadal-novak-djokovic-covid-health-sports-a4588f2489df34574578320ae74ad5bd