Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic will not play at the BNP Paribas Open tournament, popularly known as Indian Wells, for not being vaccinated against the coronavirus, announced this Sunday the organization of the tournament.
Although those responsible for the first Masters 1000 of the season did not specify in their statement the reason for the withdrawal, Djokovic’s participation in the Californian desert tournament was practically impossible for not complying with the rules on the pandemic USA to access the country.
The only option for the Serb was to receive an exception from the US authorities but in the end that assumption did not occur for this tournament that will be played from March 6 to 19.
number one in the world Djokovic will thus skip Indian Wells for the fourth consecutive year -counting the 2020 edition that was not played due to the pandemic- and it is also very difficult to be at the Miami Open (March 19 to April 2).
Djokovic’s absence opens the way for Alcaraz to recover number one although the young Spaniard arrives between cotton balls at these two tournaments in the US in which he defends many points (he was a semifinalist in Indian Wells in 2022 and champion in Miami).
Besides Djokovic, Indian Wells and Miami will not have Rafael Nadal due to injury.