LONDON
\nNovak Djokovic will miss next week\u2019s Miami Open after the Serbian was denied an exemption that would have allowed him to enter the US despite not being vaccinated against Covid-19, tournament director James Blake said on Friday.
\n\u201cWe tried to get Novak Djokovic to be allowed to get an exemption, but that wasn\u2019t able to happen,\u201d Blake told Tennis Channel. \u201cObviously, we\u2019re one of the premier tournaments in the world, we\u2019d like to have the best players that can play. We did all that we could. We tried to talk to the government, but that\u2019s out of our hands.\u201d
\nFlorida Governor Ron DeSantis and the state\u2019s two US senators were among those calling on the Biden administration to to allow world number one Djokovic to enter the US and compete at the tournament he has won six times.
\nDjokovic, 35, is also missing the ongoing Masters tournament in Indian Wells, California due to his inability to secure the exemption.
\nThe US currently bars unvaccinated foreigners from entry into the country, a policy that is expected to be lifted when the government ends its Covid-19 emergency declarations on May 11.
\nDjokovic, who missed last year\u2019s Australian Open after being deported from that country due to his vaccination status, has said he would skip Grand Slams rather than have a Covid shot. He won his record-tying 22nd Grand Slam at the Australian Open in January.
\nHe has not played at Indian Wells or the Miami Open – which together comprise the \u201cSunshine Double\u201d – since 2019.
\nA representative for Djokovic said the player would make no further comment regarding his absence from the Miami tournament, and he planned to return to the tour at the Monte Carlo Masters claycourt event that begins on April 9.
\nDjokovic will then continue his preparations for the French Open in May by playing in the Srpska Open in Banja Luka, Bosnia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON Novak Djokovic will miss next week\u2019s Miami Open after the Serbian was denied an exemption that would have allowed him to enter the US despite not being vaccinated against Covid-19, tournament director James Blake said on Friday. \u201cWe tried to get Novak Djokovic to be allowed to get an exemption, but that wasn\u2019t able […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238734,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[10951],"class_list":{"0":"post-320455","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-djokovic"},"yoast_head":"\n