“Novak Djokovic Allowed to Compete in US Tournaments After End of Vaccine Mandate”

The White House announced that on the 11th of this month it will end the mandatory requirement to present the vaccine against Covid-19 for international visitors, since the public health emergency due to said pandemic will end. This resolution, taken to a strictly sporting (and tennis, above all) level, will allow the current ranking leader, the Serbian Novak Djokovic (the only Top 100 not vaccinated), being able to compete in the competitions of the North American country, especially in the Cincinnati Masters 1000 (since August 13) and the US Open (from August 28 to September 10).

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Djokovic, one of the highest-profile athletes not vaccinated against Covid-19, lost a lot of ground on the international circuit due to his decision. Even so, every time he competed he did it with great success. Nole, 35, missed the last US Open due to his decision not to get vaccinated. He was also unable to enter the United States this year to play the Indian Wells and Miami Masters 1000. For the latter he applied to the US government for a special permit, but was unsuccessful.

In April 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, Djokovic said he was against the need to be vaccinated to travel. He subsequently assured himself that he would not be inoculated even if it meant he missed tournaments. In January 2022 he tried to receive an exception to participate in the Australian Open and traveled to Melbourne, but his case reached a court, his visa was revoked and he was deported.

In the current season, the player coached by the Croatian Goran Ivanisevic has a record of 17 wins and only three losses. He won the Adelaide ATP 250 1 and the first major, the Australian Open, beating Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final. After the European tour on brick dust began, he said goodbye in the round of 16 in Monte Carlo and in the quarterfinals in Banja Luka. Since then, he has not played again. It is estimated that he will reappear at the Masters 1000 in Rome (10/5).

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Djokovic won three of his 22 Grand Slam titles at the US Open: in 2011, 2015 and 2018 (beating Tandilense Juan Martín del Potro in the definition). The last presentation of the Balkan tennis player at Flushing Meadows was in 2021when the Russian Daniil Medvedev defeated him in the final, preventing you from getting all four majors in the same season (Nole had already established himself in Australia, Roland Garros and Wimbledon).

Djokovic, who did not compete in Madrid this week because he has a problem in his right elbow, performed for the first time in New York in 2005: being 97th in the ranking, he advanced to the third round, where he lost to the Spanish Fernando Verdasco (by then, 48°). In addition to his three titles on the concrete surface of the Big Apple, he lost the finals in 2007 (vs. Roger Federer), 2010 (vs. Rafael Nadal), 2012 (vs. Andy Murray), 2013 (vs. Nadal), 2016 (vs. Stan Wawrinka) and 2021 (vs. Medvedev).

Djokovic’s last title at the US Open