Djokovic says he will not play in the US Open due to lack of Covid vaccination

Novak Djokovic will not play in the US Open as expected because he is not vaccinated against Covid19 and thus is not allowed to travel to the United StatesDjokovic announced his withdrawal from the years last Grand Slam tournament on Twitter on Thursday hours before the draw for the event was revealedSadly I will not be able to travel to NY this time for US Open Djokovic wrote wishing luck to his fellow players and said he would keep in good shape and positive spirit and wait for an opportunity to compete againPlay is scheduled to begin at Flushing Meadows on MondayDjokovic is a 35yearold from Serbia who owns 21 major championships one behind Rafael Nadal for the mens record Three of Djokovics Slam trophies came at the US Open in 2011 2015 and 2018He also was the runnerup there a halfdozen times including last season when his pursuit of the first calendaryear Grand Slam in mens tennis since 1969 ended with a loss in the final to Daniil MedvedevAlso Read US Open Bhambri advances to second qualifying round Ramanathan Nagal oustedForeign citizens who have not been vaccinated against Covid19 are currently unable to enter the US or Canada and Djokovic has said he wont get the shots even if that prevents him from playing in certain tournamentsThe US Tennis Association has said all along it will follow government rules about vaccination status for this years Open There is no vaccine mandate at the tournament for players or their support teams meaning that an unvaccinated American would be allowed to compete and spectators will not be required to wear masksPlay Quiz How well do you know the India vs Pakistan rivalryDjokovic missed the Australian Open in January after a protracted legal saga ended with his deportation from that country because he isnt vaccinated against Covid19 He also sat out four significant tournaments in North America in 2022 including in Montreal and Cincinnati recentlyHe did play in the French Open where he lost in the quarterfinals to Nadal and at Wimbledon where Djokovic won the titleAfter beating Nick Kyrgios in the Wimbledon final on July 10 Djokovic said he would love to participate in the last Grand Slam tournament of the year at Flushing Meadows but he also acknowledged Im not planning to get vaccinatedAbout three weeks later Djokovic posted on social media that he was holding out hope of getting the chance to play in the US Open writing I am preparing as if I will be allowed to compete while I await to hear if there is any room for me to travel to US Fingers crossedDjokovic has spent more weeks at No 1 than anyone else in the history of the ATP rankings He is No 6 this week in part because no rankings points were awarded at Wimbledon this yearAmong the other players who will not be at the US Open for various reasons are No 2ranked Alexander Zverev the 2020 runnerup in New York 2016 champion Angelique Kerber 2019 French Open finalist Marketa Vondrousova Gael Monfils and Reilly OpelkaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever