Novak Djokovic will miss Miami Open after being denied entry to US

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic is set to miss the upcoming edition of the ATP Miami Open because he remains unvaccinated against COVID-19.

Djokovic has failed in his bid to play at next week's Miami Open as he has been denied entry to the United States of America for being unvaccinated, the tournament director James Blake announced has confirmed.

The United States still wants its international visitors to be vaccinated against Covid-19 and a proof will be required until at least April 10. The 35-year-old Serbian player, who still refuses to take the vaccine, is believed to have applied for special permission to enter the country ahead of the tournament.

"We tried to get Novak Djokovic to be allowed to get an exemption, but that wasn't able to happen. Obviously, we're one of the premier tournaments in the world, we'd like to have the best players that can play. We did all that we could. We tried to talk to the government, but that's out of our hands," Blake said in an interview with the Tennis Channel.

"We tried, and he wasn't able to play. Same result that he had in Indian Wells, where I know [fellow tournament director] Tommy Haas 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.

"We'd love to have him, and he's our greatest champion, he's won six times here. Unfortunately, that's way above my pay grade," added Blake.

The 22-time Grand Slam winner also withdrew from the ongoing Indian Wells tournament because of his vaccination status. Djokovic missed last year's US Open as well for the same reason.

Djokovic, who first won the Miami Open in 2007, has won the tournament for a joint-record six times, including three consecutive titles wins in 2014, 2015, and 2016. Andre Agassi also won the Miami Open six times during his playing career.

Miami Open 2023's main draw is scheduled to go underway on March 22, and the tournament will go on till April 2.

Djokovic has joined the list of several high-profile names that are going to be absent in Miami, including Rafael Nadal (recovering from hip injury), Nick Kyrgios (recovering from knee injury), and Marin Cilic (recovering from leg injury).

Earlier this month, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he would "run a boat from the Bahamas" for Djokovic to compete in the Miami Open tennis tournament. DeSantis called on U.S. President Joe Biden to drop the vaccine requirement for international travellers so that Djokovic would be able to compete.

Djokovic has maintained a firm stand against the Covid-19 vaccine. Djokovic, who also missed last year's Australian Open and was deported from the country because of his vaccination status, has said he would skip Grand Slams rather than have a Covid-19 vaccination.

Luckily for the Serbian star, he was allowed to travel to Melbourne in January, where he managed to win a record-extending 10th Australian Open title. The victory at the Melbourne Grand Slam this year also tied Djokovic with Rafael Nadal's men's record of 22 Grand Slam wins.

Djokovic started off 2023 by winning two titles: Adelaide International, an ATP 250 tournament, and the Australian Open. The legendary player was on a 12-match winning streak when he entered the ATP 500 Dubai Championships. However, he suffered his first defeat of the season last week when former World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev defeated Djokovic in straight sets in the semi-final at the Dubai tournament.

The next two tournaments that were scheduled on his calendar were Indian Wells and Miami. Since he won't be playing in them, Djokovic will next be seen in action in April in Monte Carlo Masters, an ATP 1000 tournament that is played on clay court.