‘Novak Djokovic OUT?’ Indian Wells poster omits the Serbian who refuses to get vaccinated
Follow Us
Novak Djokovic
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic was deemed to return to the Indian Wells Masters 2022 when he was named in the preliminary entry list for the tournament that will begin on 10th March in the Californian desert. Novak’s entry however raised concern as the player has remained unvaccinated despite his deportation from Australia.
With the USA also making vaccination compulsory for all foreign travellers since November 2021, the Serbian might not be allowed to play at the tournament this year. Djokovic last played at the tournament in 2019 and since then has been absent. With the 2020 edition cancelled due to the Pandemic, the Serbian missed the 2021 edition to manage the workload as the tournament was scheduled in October, weeks after the 2021 US Open where he played his 4th Grand Slam finals of the season.
The speculation on whether the Serbian has been disqualified or not allowed for the tournament comes after the latest poster of the tournament was tweeted by the official Twitter handle of the tournament. Given Djokovic was on the entry list and along with Roger Federer shares the record of being a 5-time champion at the tournament, many expected him to be on the poster.
The poster however features defending champion in Women’s singles Paula Badosa and World No. 1 and 2022 Australian Open winner Ash Barty. Alongside the ladies were the Australian Open finalists, champion Rafael Nadal who is a 3-time champion at the tournament and runner-up and World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev who will be the top-seed if Djokovic is absent from the tournament.
Novak Djokovic set to make his season debut later this month
Djokovic will be back in action for the first time since he led Serbia to the semi-finals of the 2021 Davis Cup Finals. After entry being denied to him in Australia, the Nole will be back in action at the ATP-500 Dubai Championships 2022 where he is a 5-time champion having won his last title in 2020. While Dubai will certainly welcome him, the same cannot be said about the USA.
With Medvedev breathing down on his neck in the ATP rankings, the Serbian needs to play consistently and add points to his tally or he could lose his spot at the top of the rankings. With March set to have only two events on the ATP Tour, the Indian Wells Masters followed by the Miami Masters and both to be played in the USA, the compulsory vaccination policy might harm Djokovic immensely in the coming months.
Stay Updated!
Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)