Unsurprisingly, Novak Djokovic, who is not vaccinated against covid, has not received authorization to enter Florida and will therefore not compete in the Masters 1000 in Miami for the next two weeks. We will therefore see him again in Monte-Carlo in April.
It would have taken a rather improbable turnaround for Novak Djokovic. It didn’t happen. The Serb has not received permission to enter Florida without being vaccinated against covid. He is therefore forced to give up the Miami tournament, which will be held over the next two weeks. As with Indian Wells, which is currently taking place in California, the second Masters 1000 of the season will take place without the world No. Tournament Director James Blake confirmed this on Friday with Reuters : “We tried to push the request of Novak Djokovic, who wanted to obtain an exemption, but we did not succeed. We are one of the most important tournaments in the world, and we would like to have the best players he can play. We did everything we could, tried to talk to the government, but the decision is not in our hands. »
The presence of Novak Djokovic in Miami being obviously very important for the state in the south-east of the United States, the governor of Florida even split a letter to Joe Biden to beg him to allow the Serb to enter. in the country, including by boat, because there is no obligation to vaccinate if you arrive in Florida from the Caribbean by sea. But his request remained unheeded.
Who will be number 1 in Monte-Carlo?
Already out of Miami last year for the same reasons, Novak Djokovic will not lose any points in the standings, and we will therefore find him in Monte-Carlo on April 10 with the same total as currently, namely 7160 points. It now remains to be seen whether the Serb will still be world No. 1 in the Principality. Carlos Alcaraz can indeed ascend the ATP throne if he wins the Indian Wells tournament this Sunday (he will play his semi-final against Sinner this Saturday). But then, the Spaniard will have to defend the 1000 points of his victory in Miami last year, when Novak Djokovic will remain with the same number of points. Guaranteed suspense, therefore.
