NEW YORK — Novak Djokovic will not play in the U.S. Open, as expected, because he is not vaccinated against COVID-19 and thus is not allowed to travel to the United States.
Djokovic announced his withdrawal from the year’s last Grand Slam tournament on Twitter on Thursday, hours before the draw for the event was revealed.
“Sadly, I will not be able to travel to NY this time for US Open,” Djokovic wrote, wishing luck to his fellow players, and said he would “keep in good shape and positive spirit and wait for an opportunity to compete again.”
Play is scheduled to begin at Flushing Meadows on Monday.
Djokovic is a 35-year-old from Serbia who owns 21 major championships, one behind Rafael Nadal for the men’s record. Three of Djokovic’s Slam trophies came at the U.S. Open, in 2011, 2015 and 2018. He also was the runner-up there a half-dozen times, including last season, when his pursuit of the first calendar-year Grand Slam in men’s tennis since 1969 ended with a loss in the final to Daniil Medvedev.
Foreign citizens who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 are currently unable to enter the U.S or Canada, and Djokovic has said he won’t get the shots, even if that prevents him from playing in certain tournaments.
Djokovic missed the Australian Open in January after a protracted legal saga ended with his deportation from that country because he isn’t vaccinated against COVID-19. He also sat out four significant tournaments in North America in 2022, including in Montreal and Cincinnati recently.
He did play in the French Open, where he lost in the quarterfinals to Nadal, and at Wimbledon, where Djokovic won the title.
After beating Nick Kyrgios in the Wimbledon final on July 10, Djokovic said he “would love” to participate in the last Grand Slam tournament of the year at Flushing Meadows, but he also acknowledged, “I’m not planning to get vaccinated.”
SERENA WILLIAMS’ first opponent at what she has indicated will be her last U.S. Open – and, indeed, the last tournament of her career – is unseeded Danka Kovinic. Win that, and Williams could face No. 2 seed Anett Kontaveit of Estonia in the second round.
The brackets for the women’s and men’s singles events were released Thursday by the U.S. Tennis Association.
Play begins Monday; first-round matches will be held that day and Tuesday. There was no immediate word on when Williams will be scheduled to compete.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion, who turns 41 on Sept. 26, announced this month she was preparing to step away from her playing career. She did not explicitly say when she planned to stop but made it sound as if the U.S. Open would mark her farewell.
Williams has won the hard-court tournament in Flushing Meadows six times. She could face her older sister, seven-time major champion Venus, only in the final, because they are on opposite sides of the bracket.
In the men’s draw, Daniil Medvedev is seeded No. 1, making this U.S. Open the first major since 2004 without Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer or Andy Murray in that spot. He will start by taking on Stefan Kozlov of the United States.
No. 2 Nadal, whose 22 Grand Slam titles are a record for a man, was drawn to face Australian wild-card recipient Rinky Hijikata.
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