The 2022 National Bank Open in Montreal, which gets underway on Monday, has seen Novak Djokovic withdraw.
According to the regulations of both Canada and the United States, Djokovic is ineligible to participate in events since he is not immunised against COVID-19.
The U.S. Open, the final major of the year, is set to begin on August 29 in New York City.
It was already unlikely that the 21-time Grand Slam champion will compete in the North American Masters competition. Now that Djokovic won’t be competing in Montreal this year, the tournament’s officials have confirmed it.
Novak Djokovic previous issues with Unvaccinated status
Due to his failure to comply with Australia’s COVID-19 immunisation regulations, Djokovic had his visa cancelled and was forced to leave the country in January. This prevented him from competing in the Australian Open. Initially, his medical exemption had been allowed due to a positive COVID-19 test result from December.
The 35-year-old Serbian was permitted to compete in the European clay and grass court seasons. He won Wimbledon to win his 21st major championship after making it to the French Open quarterfinals.
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Novak Djokovic on his vaccination controversy
The three-time U.S. Open champion said he still has no plans to obtain a COVID-19 shot after his victory at the All England Club.
“I’m not vaccinated and I’m not planning to get vaccinated. So the only good news I can have is them removing the mandated green vaccine card or whatever you call it to enter United States or exemption.”
Novak Djokovic won’t be permitted to compete at this year’s Canadian Masters. According to prior hints from the tournament’s director, Eugene Lepierre.
“Either the Canadian government is going to change the rules regarding vaccination or he is going to roll up his sleeves and get the vaccine. But I don’t think any of those scenarios are realistic,” Lepierre said.
US Open hopes for Djokovic
Additionally, this makes the Serb’s participation in the US Open challenging. Earlier this month, the US Open slam’s organizers issued a statement outlining their position on the vaccination requirement.
“The US Open does not have a vaccination mandate in place for players. But it will respect the US government’s position regarding travel into the country for unvaccinated non-US citizens,” the statement read.
Djokovic’s coach, Goran Ivanisevic, recently told La Repubblica that the World No. 6 was making every effort to make it to the season-ending Grand Slam.
“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.”
On Saturday, he gave an update on his event preparations for this year.
Djokovic posted on Instagram. “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 the U.S. “Prayers appreciated!”
Djokovic’s participation in the 2024 event, as well as his participation in the US Open this year, are therefore both unclear.
Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, and Medvedev are among the men’s players who have committed to the National Bank Open.
Russian Medvedev was one of the individuals who was prohibited from competing in Wimbledon as a result of Russia’s armed invasion of Ukraine.
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