[Andrej Isakovic/Reuters]
The Miami Open will take place next week, but world No. 1 Novak Djokovic will not be able to participate after being denied entry to the United States.
The 35-year-old, a 22-time Grand Slam winner, requested special authorization to enter the US because he is not Covid-19 immunized.
International travellers to the US must be immunized, and documentation is necessary until at least 10 April.
For the same reason, Djokovic withdrew from the current Indian Wells competition.
“Obviously, we’re one of the premier tournaments in the world, we’d like to have the best players that can play,” said Miami Open tournament director James Blake.
Speaking to the Tennis Channel, he added: “We did all that we could. We tried to talk to the government, but that’s out of our hands. We tried, and he wasn’t able to play.
“Same result that he had in Indian Wells, where I know [fellow tournament director] Tommy Haas did as much as he could. We tried to get Novak Djokovic to be allowed to get an exemption, but that wasn’t able to happen.
“We’d love to have him, and he’s our greatest champion, he’s won six times here. Unfortunately, that’s way above my pay grade.”
Serbia’s Djokovic skipped the US Open in 2017 because to immunization issues.
Djokovic, who skipped the Australian Open and was banned from the country due to his vaccination status last year, has stated that he would choose to skip the Covid-19 immunization over Grand Slam events.
He was given permission to go to Melbourne in January, when he tied Rafael Nadal’s record of 22 Grand Slam victories for men by winning his 10th Australian Open championship and breaking the previous mark.
In the semi-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Djokovic was defeated by Daniil Medvedev in straight sets for his first loss of the year.
The Monte Carlo Masters clay court is where he will play next starting on 9 April.