No vaccine mandate by USTA- Novak Djokovic finally gets the green signal for the US Open?
Novak Djokovic
21-time grand slam champion Novak Djokovic has had a very weird 2022 season so far and it looks like things won’t be betting any better for him. He was supposed to defend his Australian Open title but was instead deported from Australia on arrival due to his vaccination status despite a 10-day long tussle with the Australian government.
Due to a late start to the season, Djokovic was terrible out of form for a couple of months but started to find his groove as he got more match practice. But he couldn’t defend his French Open title either as he lost to Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals. But he bounced back we’ll a few weeks later to win his 7th Wimbledon title after beating Nick Kyrgios in the final.
Djokovic is just one major shy of equaling Rafael Nadal’s record of 22 major titles but as things stand, he might not be able to travel to the USA to compete at the US Open later this year. According to the US government, one required vaccination so as to enter the country and no body will be exempted from the ruling.
USTA revokes any vaccination mandate in place
Latest, the USTA has confirmed that they don’t have a vaccination mandate in place for players. But they have also made it clear, as reported by Serbian journalist Sasa Ozmo, that they intend to value the US government’s position of a ban on unvaccinated players in the country.
This means that despite the USTA’s ruling, Djokovic won’t be allowed to enter the country without any special exemption. As things stand, Djokovic will most likely miss the US Open as he doesn’t intend to get vaccinated and the government is also stubborn in it’s ruling.
Lakshya Chopra
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