Novak Djokovic denied COVID-19 vaccine exemption, will not compete at Miami Open

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The world’s No. 1-ranked men’s tennis player will not be able to compete in the Miami Open next week due to his COVID-19 vaccine status. 

Novak Djokovic, who recently won his 22nd Grand Slam at the Australian Open, was denied an exemption to enter the United States, according to Miami Open tournament director James Blake.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia argues with the chair umpire during his second round match against Enzo Couacaud of France at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023.  (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

"Obviously, we run one of the premier tournaments in the world, we’d like to have the best players that can play," Blake told the Tennis Channel on Friday. "We did all that we could. We tried to talk to the government, but that’s out of our hands. We tried, and he wasn’t able to play. 

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"Same result that he had in Indian Wells, where I know Tommy Haas [Indian Wells tournament director] did as much as he could. We tried to get Novak Djokovic to be allowed to get an exemption, but that wasn't able to happen." 

In February, Djokovic applied for special permission to enter the U.S. in order to play in tournaments due to being unvaccinated against COVID-19. 

The U.S. currently requires all non-U.S. citizens to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to enter the country via air travel. 

Serbia's Novak Djokovic reacts after his match against Poland's Hubert Hurkacz (not pictured) during their Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship in Dubai on March 2, 2023.  (KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty