However Miami Open match director James Blake stated that whereas they’d tried to safe entry for the 35-year-old Serbian star, “that wasn’t capable of occur.”
“We run one of many premier tournaments on the earth. We’d prefer to have the very best gamers that may play … And we did all we might, tried to speak to the federal government, however that’s out of our palms,” Blake informed Tennis Channel on Friday.
“We’d like to have him, and he’s our biggest champion. He’s gained six occasions right here … However sadly, that’s approach above my pay grade,” he added.
Match officers in Indian Wells, Calif., additionally stated Djokovic had withdrawn earlier this month.
Politicians together with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) have not too long ago urged President Biden to exempt the top-ranked participant so he might compete within the Miami Open, set to happen March 19 to April 2 in Miami Gardens, Fla. Florida’s two Republican senators had additionally requested Biden to simply accept the request for a vaccine waiver.
Officers on the U.S. Open, the nation’s Grand Slam occasion, had expressed help for Djokovic, tweeting that they have been “hopeful that Novak is profitable in his petition to enter the nation.”
The athlete’s unvaccinated standing amid coronavirus restrictions left him unable to play in final yr’s U.S. Open. He was deported from Australia in January final yr in a saga that divided his followers and detractors as well being officers globally inspired vaccination to battle the unfold of the lethal virus. A compulsory vaccine requirement didn’t apply for entry to Britain, and Djokovic went on to efficiently defend his males’s singles title at Wimbledon final July.
In interviews final yr, Djokovic stated he was not a part of the anti-vaccine motion however that he supported the liberty to decide on.
Well being officers say people who find themselves vaccinated and boosted not solely have safety from critical sickness themselves but additionally assist defend the extra susceptible, together with the immunocompromised.
Des Bieler and Cindy Boren contributed to this report.
