Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic is set to miss the US Open over his unvaccinated status and would lose the opportunity to tally Rafael Nadal’s 22 Grand Slam record.
This is the second time the Serbian is missing out on a Grand Slam contest after he was denied entry in January into Australia to defend the Australian Open title he won in 2021.
Djokovic has hoped to compete in the US Open and applied for a visa but forgot that the USA since October last year, banned non-vaccinated visitors from entry into its boundaries.
Despite his eagerness to feature in the championship, which he won four years ago for the third time, the 35-year-old posted on his Twitter account to announce his withdrawal from the title.
“Sadly, I will not be able to travel to NY this time for US Open,” he tweeted.
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“I’ll keep in good shape and positive spirit and wait for an opportunity to compete again,” Djokovic added.
“See you soon tennis world,” he added.
This decision goes contrary to his statement on July 30 when he said
“I am preparing as if I will be allowed to compete.”
Nevertheless, the Serb’s withdrawal confirms that despite the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) having reviewed some of its rules for unvaccinated citizens a couple of weeks back, certain stringent constraints still persist.
