Djokovic Pulls Out Of 2022 US Open Due To COVID vaccine status

Summary

• Novak Djokovic was one of the favorites to win the 2022 US Open
• Djokovic announced that he was pulling out of the US Open
• Djokovic remains unvaccinated and is not eligible to get a U.S visa

Tennis fans have been looking forward to the final grand slam of the year.

The 2022 US Open is set to take place from 29 Aug to Sep 11 and fans expected all of the top players to be in attendance since the COVID-19 situation in the United States is mostly under control.

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal were among the biggest favorites to win the US Open Championship in the men’s division. Djokovic won Wimbledon 2022 and was very keen on closing out this year with another grand slam win.

Djokovic was expected to play at the 2022 US Open as he was seeded by the tournament organizers and was ranked as a top favorite with multiple betting sites. However, Djokovic surprised his fans when he suddenly announced that he would not take part in the 2022 U.S Open.

Djokovic who remains unvaccinated said that he was pulling out because the United States was only granting visas to vaccinated individuals. Djokovic’s stance on the COVID-19 vaccination has been documented in detail after he faced major problems at the start of the year during the 2022 Australian Open.

Djokovic’s trouble with the Australian authorities over his non-vaccination status caused a lot of drama and his visa was revoked at the last minute and he was deported causing a lot of backlash for both Djokovic and tournament officials.

Djokovic did not want to create a similar drama at the 2022 US Open and decided to pull out a few days before the tournament could start.

US Open tournament director, Stacy Allaster said it was unfortunate that the fans could not see a great champion in action and pointed out that it was due to the Federal Government’s vaccination stance against non-US citizens.

Djokovic Fans Lash Out On Social Media

Djokovic who has over 11.2 million followers on Instagram and many more on other social media platforms received a lot of support.

Many fans lashed out at the US Open and the United States government for their vaccination policy and said there was no scientific evidence to ban Djokovic from entering the United States and playing at the U.S Open.