Novak Djokovic withdraws from Indian Wells due to vaccination status with world No. 1 unable to attend
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Updated 06/03/2023 at 08:34 GMT
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has had to pull out of Indian Wells with the 22-time Grand Slam singles champion unable to enter the United States due to his vaccination status. The 35-year-old had hoped to be granted special permission because he is not vaccinated against Covid-19, but he has been unable to secure that. He has now withdrawn ahead of the draw on Tuesday.
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Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from Indian Wells due to his vaccination status with the world No. 1 unable to attend the event in the United States.
As it currently stands, the US requires international visitors to be vaccinated against Covid-19 and proof of that status is still required until 10 April at the earliest.
Djokovic said after a practice session in Belgrade in late February that "My plans after Dubai depend on the US. I'm waiting for a reply, it's not on me. I will know soon. Everything is in process.
"I'm thankful to the Indian Wells and Miami communities for their support. They would like me to be able to play in their tournaments. I'm looking forward to a positive decision coming soon, but it's not in my hands."
Unfortunately for the 22-time Grand Slam singles champion, who also missed the US Open due to his vaccination status, he has been unable to secure the special permission he would have required to play in the tournament.
The tournament revealed that Djokovic, who recently made history by breaking Steffi Graf's record for weeks at world No. 1, would be replaced by Nikoloz Basilashvili in a simple statement on social media on Monday.
Indian Wells, which is often referred to as the 'fifth Grand Slam' due to its prestigious status in both the men's and women's tennis calendars, gets underway with the qualifiers on Monday.
As noted by a number of reporters, Djokovic has taken this decision to withdraw ahead of the draw being made on Tuesday, rather than wait until afterwards, as he did last year.
As it still stands, Djokovic is not allowed to travel to the US, which at the moment is the only country on the ATP Tour that requires international travellers to be vaccinated against Covid-19. The current US entry regulations are set to be lifted on May 11.
If the US regulations requiring international travellers to be vaccinated do indeed end on May 11, it would mean Djokovic could then return to play at the US Open in the summer, as well as the Canadian Open and the Western & Southern Open.
Djokovic, who lost in the semi-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships to Daniil Medvedev on Friday, has a very impressive 15-1 record at the start of 2023 and is enjoying one of his best-ever starts to a season, having triumphed for a 10th time at the Australian Open.
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There are no restrictions to prevent Djokovic from playing throughout the European clay-court season or the grass-court season, so he will be free to participate at the French Open and Wimbledon.
The first big event of the clay season is the Monte-Carlo Masters, which starts on April 9, with Djokovic then poised to take on Spain's Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, among the other big-name contenders, at Roland-Garros.
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