Novak Djokovic will defend his title at Wimbledon.Photo: Antonio Borga/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty
Tennis starNovak Djokovichas confirmed he will not compete in theU.S. Opendue to his vaccination status.
The Serbian athlete,who is not vaccinated against COVID-19, spoke out about his absence from the tournament Thursday morning on Twitter.
“Sadly, I will not be able to travel to N.Y. this time for U.S. Open,” Djokovic, 35, wrote. “Thank you #NoleFam for your messages of love and support. Good luck to my fellow players! I’ll keep in good shape and positive spirit and wait for an opportunity to compete again. See you soon tennis world!”
“The U.S. Open does not have a vaccination mandate in place for players, but it will respect the U.S. government’s position regarding travel into the country for unvaccinated non-U.S. citizens.”
Novak Djokovic.Visionhaus/Getty
“I’m not vaccinated and I’m not planning to get vaccinated so the only good news I can have is them removing the mandated green vaccine card or whatever you call it to enter United States or exemption,” 35-year-old Djokovic said, according to ESPN. “I don’t know. I don’t think exemption is realistically possible. If that is possibility, I don’t know what [an] exemption would be about.”
“I don’t know,” Djokovic added. “I don’t have much answers there.”
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This would not be the first time Djokovic is unable to compete due to his refusal to get a COVID-19 vaccine. In January,Djokovic was deported from Australiabecause of his vaccine status and could not play in the Australian Open, the year’s first Grand Slam tournament.Wimbledon did notmake COVID-19 vaccination mandatory in order to participate in this year’s tournament, enabling Djokovic to enter and eventually win. But he remains unable to play in the 2023 Australian Open since he is not eligible for a visa in the country, according to ESPN — leaving the tennis star out of the next two major tournaments.
Djokovic told reporters after winning Wimbledon on July 10 that he is “on vacation,” adding that he will “definitely be resting for the next couple of weeks” after his recent tournament schedule.
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“Then I’ll wait hopefully for some good news from USA because I would really love to go there,” Djokovic said, according to ESPN. “That would be probably the next big tournament, the next big swing, playing a tournament or two before U.S. Open and U.S, Open. If that doesn’t happen, then I have to see what the schedule will look like.”
Djokovic has won 21 Grand Slam titles in his career and stands just one behind Spain’sRafael Nadalfor theall-time record.
The U.S. Open begins on Aug. 29 and runs through Sept. 11 in New York City.
source: people.com
