(Paris) Novak Djokovic announced Thursday, shortly before the draw of the table, that he could not participate in the United States Open which begins on Monday because he cannot go to the United States, for lack of be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Posted at 10:51 a.m.
“Unfortunately, I won’t be able to travel to New York this time for the US Open. […] Good luck to my fellow players! I will keep myself in good shape and in a positive state of mind while waiting to be able to resume competition, ”wrote on his Twitter account the Serb who hoped until the last moment for a change in health measures imposing vaccination against COVID. -19 for entry into the United States.
Djokovic, who won his 21st at Wimbledon this summere Grand Slam title, hoped to be able to try to equal Rafael Nadal’s record of 22 major titles in New York. For the second time in his career (after 2017) he will miss the American Major which he has won three times (2011, 2015, 2018).
Last year, he came close to winning the Grand Slam but lost in the US Open final to Daniil Medvedev after winning the Australian Open, Roland-Garros and Wimbledon consecutively.
This year, he was expelled from Australia just before the start of the tournament after a political-legal-sanitary imbroglio linked to his non-vaccination against COVID-19. Then he lost in the quarter-finals at Roland-Garros against Nadal.
He had resumed his march forward at Wimbledon, but his victory had not brought him the slightest point in the standings since the Major on grass was sanctioned by the ATP and the WTA (which respectively manage the men’s and women’s professional circuits) for refusing participation from Russian and Belarusian players in retaliation for the war in Ukraine.
At 35, the indisputable world number 1 of 2021 has thus fallen to 6e ATP rank and should drop further since he will not be able to defend his points in New York.