MADRID, 18 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic, number one in the world, will not participate in the Miami (United States) tournament, the second Masters 1,000 of the season, since he did not receive a special exemption to enter the United States for not being vaccinated against the coronavirus.
The Balkan, winner six times in Miami (2007, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016), does not appear on the entry list despite attempts by the organization of the tournament and the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, to mediate between the tennis player and President Joe Biden for the latter to grant him a special exemption.
“We tried so that Novak Djokovic could get the exemption, but this did not happen. We are one of the main tournaments in the world, we would like the best tennis players in the world to play. We did everything we could, we tried to talk to the Government, but this is out out of our hands,” confirmed tournament director James Blake in an interview with Tennis Channel.
In this way, Djokovic will again miss the first two Masters 1,000 of the course, which he has not played since 2019. He has already been left out of Indian Wells for the same reason: not being vaccinated against the coronavirus, a mandatory requirement to enter the North American country .
Djokovic will return to action in Monte Carlo, at the start of the clay court season, before facing the challenge of breaking the tie at the top of the men’s ‘Grand Slam’ classification with Rafa Nadal at Roland Garros, where he is looking forward to raising his 23rd ‘big’.
Thus, the Murcian Carlos Alcaraz, second in the world, will be the first seed in Miami, where he could reach as leader of the ATP ranking if he is able to win the title in the Californian desert.