Novak Djokovic: 'Zero hope' of rules changing to allow Wimbledon champion to play at US Open, says Ivanisevic
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Published 02/08/2022 at 15:39 GMT
There is a movement in the United States that has called on President Joe Biden to change stance on current Covid-19 vaccination rules and allow Novak Djokovic to play in the final Grand Slam of the year. However, his coach Goran Ivanisevic believes there is "zero hope" requirements will change before the US tournament begins on August 29.
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There is “zero hope” that President Joe Biden will “change the rules” on the current entry requirements to the United States to allow Novak Djokovic to play in the US Open, according to his coach Goran Ivanisevic.
The United States government have introduced legislation which states that those of non-US citizenship coming into the country must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
Djokovic has reaffirmed that he won’t be getting vaccinated in order to enter the US, despite missing the defence of his Australian Open title and the Indian Wells and Miami Open earlier this year because of his status.
There is a movement in the United States that has called on President Biden to change stance and allow the Serbian to play in the final Grand Slam of the year.
And while Ivanisevic has refused to rule out the 21-time Grand Slam winner’s participation completely, he doesn’t believe President Biden will get involved.
“There is always hope,” Ivanisevic told La Repubblica.
“Novak will do everything to be there, maybe he will get a special visa. But there are only two weeks.
“And, personally, I have zero hope that [Joe] Biden will change the rules before the tournament starts.”
Ivanisevic went even further, calling out the current rules.
“For me it is all nonsense and bull****,” he continued.
“If you are vaccinated but positive you can enter the United States. If you are not vaccinated but negative, you are banned. There is too much politics in sports.”
After winning the Italian Open, Djokovic “ran out of gas” in his quarter-final against Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros before going on to win Wimbledon just over three weeks later, claims Ivanisevic.
“As he was not vaccinated, Nole did not know where he would be allowed to play until the end,” Ivanisevic explained.
“In Monte Carlo he was not ready, in Belgrade he ran out of gas in the final and Paris he met Nadal who was better than him. The real rebirth began in Rome.”
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Despite coming in for some strong criticism over his vaccination stance, Ivansevic stresses that Djokovic never considered retirement.
He added: “If it had happened to another tennis player, in 90% of cases he would have stopped.
“Instead, Nole is a born fighter, as well as being a genius of the sport. Sometimes the genes are a little strange and he needed it, time to rework something as serious as what it took him in Australia.”
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