Former world number one, Novak Djokovic, has announced his withdrawal from the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, which takes place this month, and the Miami Open, another invent holding in the United States. This is due to the US’s law that denies unvaccinated people entry into the country. Djokovic has admitted that he is unvaccinated and would not be forced to get vaccinated.

Djokovic automatically qualified for these two events but would not be playing at either. Taking to his Instagram, he said: “While I was automatically listed in the @bnpparibasopen and @miamiopen draw, I knew, given the entry requirements to the US, it would be unlikely I’d be able to travel there.

“But as international COVID regulations are always being amended, I wanted to wait and see if anything would change.

“The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) confirmed today that regulations are not changing, which means I will not be playing in the US.”

This means we may not see Djokovic in action for a while, if more countries have strict travel regulations like the US. Back in January, Djokovic was deported from Australia and given a three-year ban after his visa was revoked, days after entering the country with a medical exemption.

The Serbian has admitted his vaccination status and has vowed that he would rather miss events than being forced to get vaccinated. And it looks like he’s keeping to his words. The last time we saw Djokovic was when he lost to Jiri Vesely at the quarterfinals of the Dubai Championship Open, shortly before he lost the world number one spot to Russian Daniil Medvedev. Djokovic could lose points further if he continues to miss events.

For now, he would only play in countries that have lax travel rules, especially allowing unvaccinated people into their countries.

Written by: Leon Osamor